Hades' Knights
by ComicalFace
Summary: Ark Gothard and Kane Gothard are two of the best of Hades' Knights. Two Death Knights, chosen to be the leaders of Hades' armies of the dead. However, when they are overcome with guilt when they are forced to murder a man who does not deserve to die, they escape Hades' Void and end up in our world. Now they must keep going, to escape Hades' Hellhounds and whatever else he may send.
1. Chapter 1

Hades' Knights

Chapter 1:

Escape

The search lights above the hills splashed over the knight sky as Kane and I headed south, away from the lights and away from the sounds of sirens blaring. The trees fought to keep us back as well as the tormenting snow. We heard something riding up on us and dived off the road and into the snow, burying our heads down low to keep them from seeing us.

Two Riders in black came to a stop, hissing and growling at the air as they lifted their heads up to sniff. Their ominous red eyes glowed from under their hoods, beyond the shadows of their loose suits that lay in tatters on their skinny bodies. The horses bounced and neighed at the Riders, urging them to continue on so they could keep running. When they found no scent of Kane and I and continued on, we stood up.

The snow had gone down my shirt and pressed against my arms and my chin, causing me to feel the harsh stinging pain of icy tendrils wrapping around me. But I had to ignore it, for both our sakes.

Another sound of something coming.

We rushed away from the road, running through the snow with struggle. I grasped the trees ahead of me to keep me pulsing through the thick white sheet beneath me. I looked over my shoulder at my brother, who was also struggling to keep going. My hands felt like they were on fire. I took a brief moment to give them a look. My fingertips were red, my palms were pale and white. That was not good.

The cold air and the mixture of snowflakes swirling in the air did no good for my freezing face as well. My short black hair flew in the wind, fighting to keep my head warm. I looked back at Kane. "Where the hell's Blackjack?!" I shouted over the screaming wind, bringing my hands under my armpits.

Kane sniffled and stepped beside me, doing the same thing. "I don't know. He said he'd be here." He looked troubled. And maybe even a bit worried.

_C'mon, Blackjack_… I begged in my head, squeezing my eyes closed and giving my prayers to the gods that I have ruefully disobeyed. I know that if they hear my prayers, they will not answer them. For I have wronged them. I gave my sincerest apologies to all of them. Every single one that I have screwed over. However, I don't think they care for my well being or Kane's.

We both heard it on cue. We looked back, gasping. The Riders were hustling toward us, unsheething their long, black swords for battle. Kane and I exchanged looks. We weren't able to reach the armory, so it wasn't like we had anything to defend ourselves with. We got prepared to dodge and dive away from the swords.

Then something dashed out from between Kane and I. It went by so fast and shockingly that we couldn't even comprehend what had happened. But they didn't particularly mind because the Riders fell at our feet with a thud. Their horses only ran off without their masters, further into the snow.

Our relief swept over us when we saw the unexplained black streak was actually our dear friend, Blackjack. He held up his dark silver sword and straightened up his back. The black cloak draped around him was flowing in the winter wind. He looked at the silver blade he held at the dark red blood on the sharp end. He flicked it and watched as the scarlet liquid splattered on the icy snow. He turned to the two of us who were smiling back at him. "You two sure do get into a lot of trouble when I'm not around, huh?"

"Now's not the time, Blackjack." Kane breathlessly said, leaning against the tree with a spare hand. "Where is the carriage?"

"Not a carriage." He shook his head and brought his fingers up to his mouth and whistled, making a high pitched sound ring out into the wind. "Midnight will take us there."

Another black horse rode in through the snow. It had a long black mane that was almost blue, it looked much like the Riders horses, but not nearly as menacing and it looked much more beautiful than the other horses. It skidded to a stop next to Kane and I. We have only admired the horse from a distance when we were working the stables and watching the other Knights riding the horse.

"How'd you get Midnight?" I asked Blackjack, turning my eyes from the magnificent horse to my friend.

Blackjack hastily walked over to Midnight, laying his hand on his snout. The horse nuzzled his hand. "It doesn't matter." He said as he pulled himself on the horses back. "It'll be rough. Riding bare back, it'll also be a bit crowded." He patted the horses neck. "But try not to bear too much on him."

"We're going to ride him all at once?" I raised my brows at him. "You gotta be kidding me."

"We don't exactly have a choice right now." He said, eyeing the search lights in the distance. "Now get on. Quickly."

Kane got on first, behind Blackjack and then held out a hand to me. I grasped it. He lifted me up onto the back of Midnight, behind him. "Hang on tight, sis. This is gonna get rough." Kane said over to me. I nodded and felt the horse begin to move.

Blackjack began to whisper something very quietly, the final words he began to shout. "… into the wind, go my Midnight!" He shouted, Midnight squealed and took off so suddenly, I almost fell off his back.

The wind whipped against me. I hid under Kane's head, a little guilty that I had to use him as a human shield. The loud thudding sounds of Midnight running forth, through the trees was the only thing filling my ears. I looked back at the trail behind me. And my eyes caught onto two more Riders coming onto our tail, unsheathing their blades to attack us.

"Ark!" Blackjack yelled back at me. "Take this!" He tossed me his silver blade back to me. I caught it and then turned to face my foes.

The first Rider rode up on my right. It swung at me with a powerful force. I lifted my hand up, with the sword and stopped the blade from reaching me. I put the pressure down on the blade until our blades were both knocked backwards. I swung quickly at his torso, it didn't catch, but it caught him off guard so much that he slipped off his black horse and fell into the dirt and snow below, his horse turned away from its original path and began to run away.

I looked to my left just in time to see a sword swing at me, but missing. I had to turn myself in an uncomfortable way, but I managed to block the next attack with the hilt of the blade. I reached up and grabbed the Rider's thin arm and yanked. The Rider was so light. Since he was just a bag of bones. He slipped off of the horse easily.

"We're almost there, now!" Blackjack announced, shouting back at Kane and I. "Just a little more!"

When we came out of the trees, and into the snowy plain, we spotted the large red and black hole in the air. A tear in time. A ripple in the world. And the portal to our freedom. We both smiled at the ominous looking exit out of this hell.

"Get ready, guys!" She shouted. "I'm going to stop Midnight, they'll be here any second, so you're going to have to hurry, okay?"

"You're not coming?" Kane pulled on his sleeve. "You have to!"

Blackjack chuckled. "Come on, Kane. You know I can't stay in that world." He shook his head, not even fazed by the snow thrashing at his pale face. "But don't worry. I won't be caught."

"Blackjack…"

"Don't get mushy on me." He chuckled again. Midnight stopped abruptly a few feet away from the black and red portal. He looked back at us. "Hurry! I can't stay here long, or else they'll know I was in on this escape too."

We rushed off Midnight, staggering in the snow. We looked at each other, giving each other a hopeful look. And then we looked back at Blackjack, who straightened up once before saying. "Good luck, you two." He said, waving us off as we stepped closer to the portal. Midnight ran off, carrying Blackjack on his back.

Kane held out his hand. I grasped it and we looked at each other. "You ready?" He asked me, lifting his eyebrows.

I nodded. "Let's do this." And together, we both dived into the red and black ripple, feeling ourselves being sucked in immediately. Our hands never released.

The feeling of being flung around and wind thrashing through my hair and clothes gave me an odd sensation. I kept my grip on Kane's hand tight so that I wouldn't lose him in the transportation. His hand tightened his grip on mine, when he felt my unease.

Everything picked up speed, things got louder, I felt my heart beating faster. Well, not really. But I felt myself getting excited. I looked all around the bright red and black lights that blurred my vision. Something was happening. It felt like the portal was denying us. Like we weren't allowed to be free.

And just like that, everything was still.

The silence followed after it. I felt my back hit something below me. My fingers were the only thing holding onto Kane's hand. My eyes were closed when my back hit something. I took a second to allow myself to breath. And then I slowly opened my eyes.

There was something horribly bright shining above me. Something far too blinding. I lifted my hand to touch whatever it was, but found my arm outstretching as far as it could go. I moved my hand in front of the light and realized for the first time in a long time. I was looking at the sun. The warmth it gave my cold fingers caused me to look at my palm to see if I was melting. Because that's what it felt like was happening.

Kane's fingers squeezed mine a little. I managed to turn my head towards him. He looked back at me. His obvious relief and happiness made me smile. "We're alive?" He whispered, weakly. 

"No, but we're free." I smiled. "For now."

"So that's the sun?" Kane turned his gaze back to the grand ball of light that took the sky. "I can't remember the last time I saw it."

"Me either." I closed my eyes in its warmth. "It's nice."

"Yes," he agreed.

For the next two weeks, we struggled a bit. This new world in which we have never been in before requires some things from a human being. It requires money. We have heard quite a bit about it. And seen it on the television boxes. We only knew so much about this world. We have once been apart of this world. But that was a very long time ago.

Things have changed since we've been here. Nevertheless, we were happy. Despite not having a home to be in or much food to eat, just knowing that we were not Knights anymore gave us comfort. But we knew it wouldn't last long. We had to be careful. Because we knew Hades wouldn't stand idly when his two best Knights had escaped.

I still remember the very beginning. Where it all happened and where the nightmare was spawned from:

_-FLASHBACK-_

_Kane and I were small children, both of us. When our first encounter with Hades had taken place. _

_ We were no demigods, our father was a normal man, like any other. Our mother was an angel, we both believed. But normal, nonetheless. Kane and I were running through our backyard, being normal children. The neighbors children had also come to play. So we were in one big cluster of children. It was fun to be with so many friends at once. _

_ Halfway through, we saw a black car in the driveway. We exchanged looks and headed toward the house to see who had visited. We were only six at the time, so when we heard hushed voices in the living room, we stayed there in the doorway, listening. We crouched down, so they wouldn't see us. _

_ "No. I must refuse." Mother was saying, she sounded very calm. But whoever she was talking to made an edge come into her voice Kane and I were surprised to hear. "I cannot send my children to that wicked place."_

_ "Your children have potential, miss." The man said. His voice was coated in a rich, dark substance that made our skin crawl. "But their lack of a father will make them become spineless." He spoke without hesitation, and his confidence never seemed to cease. _

_ "Their lack of a father will not change their outcome."_

_ "I am not offering to become their father, ma'am. I am only offering to fill in the space he left. Raising them in the correct way to rise their potential will peak their greatness." The man said. "I can assure you, they will be handled with great care and I will protect them until they are of age."_

_ "I am going to have to deny you." Mother sounded angry now. It frightened Kane and I. _

_ "Shall we let the children chose?" He asked, sounding like he may be a bit amused with mother's resistance. "After all, they are listening to us right now."_

_ We both stumbled back to get out of the house, but it was too late. Mother was staring down at us. She looked angry, but we didn't think the anger was directed toward us. She bent down in front of us. "How much did you hear?"_

_ We didn't meet her gaze, just shifted our weight from foot to foot. We were gilty, no doubt. But we didn't want to admit that. Mother sighed. And before she could say anything, we saw a dark shadow man step into our view. For the first time we caught a glimpse of him. He had shaggy black hair that covered over his eyes, just barely. He had a little facial hair on his chin. His eyes were too dark to determine the color. And his clothing looked like they were expensive. He was dressed all in black. _

_ "Your son and daughter are very precious, madame." The man said in his smooth, ebony tone. "Let us explain to them the gravity of the situation, shall we?"_

_ "You cannot ask them such a question." Mother snapped, standing up angrilly and turning to the man in the black. "They are only children."_

_ His smirk was cold. Kane and I felt scared of the man, too afraid to meet his eyes. "Yes, they are. But the Gothards have been known throughout my hall for years. For you to have twins… it could be a great discovery of power."_

_ "Don't be ridiculous." She snapped. "For the last time, I say no. Now please leave my house." She pointed toward the exit, not meeting our gazes either. _

_ The man sighed and looked down at the two of us, before heading toward the door. Kane and I never looked back. _

_ But it didn't end there. Four days later, we were called into the office when we were at school. And we learned that our mother was in the hospital after a horrific fire had taken our home. We were escorted to the hospital to see her. Her beautiful face was burned half off, her smile was affected now. She was very weak, so she could only whisper things to us. _

_ She told us that she loved us and no matter what that she will be with us. It tore us. We hated to see mother in that condition. We were sent into childcare for three days before we learned that our mother had passed away. We were too young to understand fully. But we knew we would never, ever see her again. _

_ Just before we went into adoption, we had seen that man once more. He was sitting in the window of our little room, that we stayed in. The lightning flashed behind him, the curtains blew in from the wind. He still wore his very dark suit and looked as smug as last time. He crossed his arms. "I think it's time you come with me."_

-_END FLASHBACK_-

Kane and I were on the roof of the largest building we could find. The building was someones house, but the tallest one. We looked through the small town of which we were staying at currently. We had to keep an eye out for any Riders or anything else Hades could send our way. Or possibly Blackjack. We were very paranoid and cautious, but I suppose it's better than not being.

"Let's scope the district area." Kane suggested as we stood up straight when we came to the conclusion that there was nothing below. "We have to be cautious. Since we don't have our weapons here with us." 

"I know. I wish we could have stopped at the armory before we left." I groaned. "But we didn't really have time, did we?"

He sighed. We hopped down off the roof, gliding to the bottom and only making a scraping sound when we landed. It's come to my attention that we didn't blend well in with the crowd. I noticed the clothes that they wore were different from our own. This was considered normal for us, but maybe not for everyone else.

We walked down the street, dressed in uniform. People gave us sideglances and whispered to each other when they passed us, but we thought nothing of it. Until we made it to the district. That's when we considered changing our look. We both noticed them at the exact moment. And we both dived to the side, crashing into some trashcans on the way.

People grumbled, annoyed at us. Others just yelped from being surprised. We didn't look back as we ran down the street. I looked back once and saw the hound was sniffing the air and looking in the direction most people were. At us. "Damn!" I shoved Kane into an alleyway and threw myself into the darkness as well. "That was close." I whispered to him, breathless.

"We can't stay here," Kane whispered back to me. "If we get caught, then this escape will all be for nothing." He pressed his head to the brick well behind him and looked up at the window, where two people were staring down at us and pointing. "Also, I think we need to look a bit more like everyone else around here. This uniform thing is attracting way too much attention."

"Agreed," I tilted my head around the corner to see where the hound was. It was still patrolling the distract area. I sighed and pulled myself back into the cover of the alleyway. _I liked dogs before this_. I thought and also thought of the time those stupid hellhounds gave me a heart attack back in the Void. _Damn, can't a girl go to the bathroom in peace?_ "Let's go. Before it realizes that we're here."

"Right," we ran out of the alleyway and onto the street, running as fast and as quietly as we could, careful not to attract any attention. Although with what we were wearing and the fact that we looked so distressed while wearing it probably didn't help. But either way, we made it out.

We had escaped being brought back to Hades' Void for now. But we would have to keep on this routine, probably for the rest of our lives. Our unnatural long life.

This was the only moment I cursed Hades for giving us immortality. It was required to be one of his Death Knights. To bear the gift of immortality and prosperity. We were trained especially for the job to become… a superhuman soldier. With abilities that nobody could fathom. And heightened senses. However, that still wouldn't protect us from Hades' wrath. Many have tried, many have failed. Nobody has ever escaped Hades.

It was risky. But after the last mission, Kane and I had lost our honor to ourselves. The most important honor to lose. I couldn't look in the mirror for a month after that had happened. Finally, Kane and I decided to make the very risky decision to get the fuck out.

"Ark, this way!" Kane stopped a few feet ahead of me, leaning over the edge of the bridge that led down to the river. "Hurry, before it sees us!" He ordered.

I nodded and joined him at his side. We looked down into the rapid water as it flowed down, underneath the bridge. It certainly wasn't deep enough for a steep jump like we were about to do, but right now, we didn't have time to think about it.

We heard talking behind us. We looked back and saw people were gathering around on the other side of the street. A vehicle had even stopped and they were all looking at _us_. "Son of a bitch!" I nearly shouted. "This is getting out of hand, Kane. It'll notice. We have to go _right now_!"

"Yes, let's go." He swung his leg over the side of the bridge. I did the same.

Suddenly, the talking had become to shouting. We looked back at them, wondering what the hell was wrong. They were all shaking their heads and begging us to get down. We looked back at each other. Giving each other looks that said, 'Why are they so worried?'. But of course, we didn't know the answer to that.

Before we attracted way too much attention to ourselves, which we probably already have, we jumped. Peoples' screams grew even louder into a loud, shrilling scream of horror. We knew they couldn't see the hellhound, so why were they screaming?

We crashed in the water, our knees and legs hit the bottom. It hurt a little, but not too much. We broke surface and looked up at the people on the bridge that were all staring down into the water, waiting for us to pass. Kane lifted his hand out of the water and waved at them as we let the tide carry us. We heard them cheer and clap.

I grasped his wrist and pulled it back down into the water. "Are you crazy?"

He chuckled. "Sorry."

The icy waves carried us for a long time. The sun soon died down into the horizon. I grabbed Kane's arm and reached my other hand out and grasped a reaching branch that had fallen into the water. The branch kept us from floating down any further. I pulled us onto the shore and released his arm. He collapsed on the ground, his breath was visible in the cold air.

One thing Hades didn't do for us was make it so we didn't feel any cold. _Damn, would that have been such a bad thing to have?_ I plopped down onto the dirt, feeling my wet uniform sticking to me and causing shivers to come my way when the wind blew. We were probably miles away from the town and the hellhound by now. Which was good, if we weren't now completely lost and cold.

"I think it's official." Kane finally said after what seemed like hours of pure silence, except for the singing crickets and occasional wind blowing. "I hate dogs."

"Yeah, I think I'm more of a cat person now." I agreed with a small laugh. I rested my hand on my head and looked into the water in the stream. I let the silence take hold only for a moment. "Kane?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… we're cursed?" I looked down at my brother, who was laying on the ground with his eyes closed. Well, until I asked that question. He looked at me and his brows creased into a frown. "I'm just saying. All of these things happened to us. Mom dies, then Rurik. Hades turns us into Death Knights. We're taken away from our freedom. And now that we're released, it's like we're fugitives."

"I know," Kane sat up, next to me. He had dirt lodged in his dark brown hair and a bit on his face and all over his back. But he didn't pay any attention to it. "I know what you mean. It does seem that way, doesn't it?" He lifted a brow at me. "But I know that this is all our faults."

I nodded in agreement with his statement. "Yeah, you're probably right." I chuckled and ran a hand through my short and very wet black hair. "If we never accepted that offer… maybe we'd still be allowed to be free."

Kane grasped my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before standing up and stretching his arms. "For now, let's worry about finding a place to stay. I'm freezing my ass off." He wrapped his arms around his body. "And man I would kill for new clothes right about now."

"Well…" I stood up and pointed. "Let's head in that direction." I offered.

He arched a brown brow at me. "Why over there?"

"I have a hunch." I said as I walked past him, without really telling him what I meant. "Something's up there." I continued walking, even though I didn't hear him following me. Shortly after, his footsteps caught up with mine and we headed in that direction.

I was right.

There was a house in the clearing of the trees. A small one, but it had smoke rising out from the chimney, there was a dim light shining through the window. I saw people walking back and forth past the window. Shadows of people, because we couldn't see them from this distance.

"What're we gonna do?" Kane asked me, wiping his mouth to get rid of the dirt. "Just waltz up and say, 'Hey! Could we borrow some clothes and food and leave? We're really cold and stuff.'" He tried to mimick my voice, which was insulting and poorly done. "There isn't any rational way to do this."

I pointed to the line of clothes that were hanging up to dry. "Over there." I whispered to him. "I know it's bad, but we really have no choice. If we can grab some clothes from them, we can blend in with the crowd and get out of these wet clothes." I said, slowly rising up to go.

But Kane grabbed my shirt and yanked me back down. "Hang on there, Ark. You're suggesting we _steal_?"

"We don't have a choice."

"It's wrong."

"We've done worse." I mumbled, but he heard me and his hand released me. I quickly turned to him, giving him an apologetic look. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "No, you're right. It's all right." He looked back at the house. "Let's go."

We stayed crouched down, using the darkness to cover us up from the dim light streaming out from the window. When we got into the clothes lines, we had a look around. It felt like we were shopping for clothes, but, you know, we weren't allowed to be doing this. I grabbed black clothes. I was either so used to wearing black clothes, or it was just something I liked to wear.

After we'd gotten the clothes we needed, we headed into the woods. Getting changed was an awkward event. I stayed at the river edge, while he changed behind some trees. When he came out from behind the tree, I saw his new clothes. Dark blue jeans, and a gray t-shirt. He sighed, looking down at the uniform he'd left behind. "Well, there's that." He said. "Go get changed, I'll wait here."

I went behind the trees and quickly got changed. I looked down at the uniform that was on the ground. It felt like I was saying my final goodbye to my old life. Like I was finally departing from the hardest part of my life. But I knew that it wasn't true. I had much more struggles on the way. Staying away from the hellhounds will surely prove to be difficult. Not to mention, I did not want my brother to be harmed.

I walked back to my brother, who was staring down at the river, at his own reflection. His dark brown hair was drooping, he looked like he had just taken a shower. A horrific, cold shower. He had his arms around himself, still. When I stepped next to him, he chuckled. "You still don't dress girly, do you?"

"Pfft. No." I gave him a look that said, 'when do I ever?'. People find it a little weird when I dress this way and look this way. Sometimes I get mistakened for a boy. It doesn't bother me, but after they found out that I'm actually a girl, they think I'm odd. _Oh, well, screw 'em_. I thought bitterly. I turned my eyes back on Kane, in a much more serious expression. "We should keep going. We can't risk staying here too long."

He nodded, he opened his mouth to say something, but his stomach beat him to it. It made a growling sound and he laid his hands over his stomach to stop it. "Ah, guess I'm hungry."

"Me too." I sighed. No food for three days can really do that to someone. "I don't suppose you have any cash on you?"

"Even if I did, it would have gotten washed away in the river." He pointed out. We both sighed, wishing that life wasn't so difficult.

I placed my hands on my hips, pulling down on the black button up shirt. "Let's just focus on getting somewhere warm for now." I answered back, hugging myself against the cold chill in the air.

He nodded. "Right."

Hours ticked by, we still walked.

The trail was narrow and long. It seemed to take turns that I didn't think it could take us anywhere. But I stayed silent as we went forward. Kane was quiet as well. The two of us would jump at every tiny noise, and every single time a squirrel or any other small animal would move, we turned to the animal and glared as if scolded it for scaring the two of us.

We finally managed to make it to the end of the trail, and saw the open field before us. Revealing long corn fields that stretched on for miles. It looks like we wound up in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't say that I was mad, or even a little worried. It was nice to see something so nice for once, when we lived in the Void for years.

"Rurik would love this," Kane whispered over to me. "He loves things like this, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I remember."

The next few days consist of only running, screaming and struggling to find something to eat every day.

On the sixth day of our struggle, we finally came across a large city. We didn't know where we were. But it didn't matter. Civilization was all we cared about. Kane sighed, collapsing on his knee. He pressed his fingers to the ground and then looked back up. "The tracks aren't here." He sounded relieved and I was relieved too.

"Thank god." I sighed with a smile. I looked back up at the large buildings, reaching for the sky. "Let's go."

Delilah rushed down the hall, constantly checking her watch.

"Ten seconds!" She shouted and skidded to a stop, before sprinting down the hallway. She pulled herself to a stop before pulling the door open of the classroom and running inside, slamming it shut. She gasped, grasping her knees and heard the bell. She looked up at her class, who were all glaring at her. She rolled her eyes when she saw the faces. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. At least I came." She walked over to her seat and plopped in the seat.

The science teach, Ms. William, kept her calm composer, but her tone was deadly. Still, Delilah wasn't fazed. "Where have you been, Ms. Fortune?"

She rolled her eyes. "My alarm clock didn't go off, all right? God, calm down." This Science Teach was so uptight.

"Ms. Fortune, please see me after class." She ordered. She turned back to her lesson, without addressing her again.

"This is the third time this week!" Ms. William barked at Delilah. She was standing now, her face was red with rage. "Your attitude is out of control."

"Yeah, yeah." She sighed, standing up from the desk. "Are we done?" She turned her back to walk down the isle, toward the door.

Ms. William's tone softened when she said. "I heard what happened to your little sister…" Delilah stopped in her tracks, stiffening immediately. "I understand you must be still upset. However…" she sounded a little more stern now. "That is still no excuse for you to be acting out like this."

Delilah fought the urge to slap her teacher. She knew she would get into trouble if she did. So she walked out of the classroom before she did anything she would regret.

Rachel stood beside the doorway that Delilah burst from. She looked over at her friend. Rachel arched a brow at her, asking her without actually saying anything, 'how'd it go?'. Delilah rolled her eyes, putting on her usual tough girl look. "Eh, she just chewed me out again for being late." She shrugged, deciding not to bring up Laura. "Whatever." She chuckled and motioned for Rachel to follow her.

They walked down the hall together, laughing and talking. Rachel was a good way to take her mind off of the recent death of her little sister. She felt bad for using Rachel in that way, but didn't know how else to get her mind off it. When they made it down the hall, to their lockers, Delilah saw a group of people gathering around an area.

"What's goin' on over there?" She asked Rachel, not taking her eyes off of the group of kids.

Rachel looked too and her brows furrowed. "I'm not sure." They walked to the group of kids. They joined the group and pushed through the crowd to see what was going on. When they were in front of the crowd, they saw a large paw print, made of dirt. It looked like some kind of large animal had stepped in mud and then came inside.

"Whoa," Rachel said, wide-eyed. "That's the biggest dog print I've ever seen."

"That's_ not_ a dog print." Delilah disagreed, looking over at her friend. "I know what a dog print looks like, and that ain't it."

"It has the shape though. It's big. But it's definitely a dog print." She said, with a nod of her head. "I'm positive."

"Gee, I didn't know you were a professional on dog prints." She bent down next to the print.

"Technically, I am. My dad's a hunter. He taught me how to track." She winked and knelt down next to her. "So you should trust the expert tracker."

"Not likely." She winked back and looked back at everyone else, who were just staring at the print like they were afraid it'd spawn a wolf here or something. "Go get a teacher, morons!" She growled at them and their stupid fears of a fucking dog print.

Two guys ran off to alarm a teacher that there was something they should take a look at.

The city was big.

It was big and complex. Cars went up and down the roads, as well as people. Kane and I looked dirty and tired, but at least we didn't attract any attention because of our odd appearance. We walked in front of a building and I looked at my reflection. My face was smudged with dirt and grime. There was a tear in the shirt I had "borrowed" from those lovely people. My hands were scratched and bruised.

Kane didn't look much better either. And it wouldn't kill him to get a shower, either. I cringed my nose when he stopped and stretched his arms. I grabbed my nose and with my other hand, lowered his arm. "Don't do that until you get a shower."

He looked puzzled for a moment, then lifted his arm up and sniffed under his arm and jerked his head away. "Ah! Jeez, yeah, you're right."

I sighed and scratched my head. "This would be much better if we weren't broke." 

"Tell me 'bout it." An older man that was sitting on the ground, close to us had said. He had his head bowed, hand in his old, tattered jacket. He had a cardboard sign that said, "Will work for Money". With a little smiley face next to the words. He had an old, gray beard that seriously was in need of a trimming. His eyes were blue and they looked tired. He offered a smile, but it was hard to tell because of his beard.

"You kids look too young to be bums, though." The older gentlemen said, sitting up a little and looking up at us. "Am I wrong?"

"We're not bums." Kane said, but by the way we looked, and smelled, we probably weren't fooling anyone. He sighed when his stomach growled. "Okay, we may not be… rich."

The older gentlemen chuckled and lifted himself up. He was shorter than us, at least I think so. He was slouched, so it was hard to tell. He held out an old, wrinkly hand. "The names James Buckle."

Kane took his hand and shook it. "I'm Kane Gothard. And this is my sister, Ark Gothard." He said, motioning the hand that shook his to me. I waved a little. "We're a little lost is all."

"Lost, eh?" He lifted a brow at us, his forehead wrinkled. "I don't know where you're plannin' on goin'. But for now, why don't we get warm? It may not be as cold during the day. But at nighttime, you're gonna have one hell of a time trying to sleep."

We followed the old man back, toward a bridge. The bridge led over a large portion of water that divided the city into two sections. As we got closer, we saw that there were several other guys around there. Some were younger than Buckle. He looked back at us and offered a smile. "So, Kane and Ark. How old are you two anyway?"

"Eighteen." I answered for us. "We're twins, so… we're both eighteen."

"Twins!" His eyes sparkled. "I had a twin once. Ol' Rodney always had poor health though. On top of sleepin' out here in the freezin' cold and rain, the poor lad couldn't do it. He died about three years ago. Buried him in my ma's backyard of her old house. Ain't nobody lives there anymore, so…" Buckle looked away and was silent for a moment. Then he said. "So where's y'all's mom and dad?"

"Our dad left when we were three. And our mom died when we were six." Kane explained, he didn't sound super emotional about it. Since we were used to not having a mother or a father anymore. It had been this way for quite some time. Most of our lives.

"Hurts, don't it?" He said, turning his back on us yet again. "Losin' your loved ones and bein' on your own."

"Yeah," this time Kane did sound a bit sad. I looked at him and smiled when he looked at me. I was sad too, don't get me wrong. I hated to think of my mother's untimely death and my father walking out on us. But… nothing could be done.

"So how'd you end up out here?" Buckle continued asking as we neared closer towards the hideout under the bridge. "Seems kinda odd for two people so young to be… well, struggling this early."

We had to lie a bit here. "After our Mum died, we were admitted into foster care. We jumped around from home to home for a while. Until we were finally old enough to call it quits. I got in contact with Ark again and we decided to go together for a bit and catch up on things." Kane shrugged, he was a good actor. Guess you have to be when you were constantly sneaking around the god of the dead. "Pretty soon, we just wound up like this."

The old man shook his head. "It is unfortunate. Being like this, wouldn't you agree?"

We both nodded, although, we said nothing in return.

We came under the bridge, and looked at the older people surrounding the barrels that held flames. They spread their hands over the warm flames and spoke in low guteral voices. Some of them drank out of beer bottles. Others just sat on the cement below, wallowing in self pity. And across the way, I spotted someone that looked a bit younger than them. Maybe even around our age. She sat alone, letting her legs swing over the edge, her shoes almost touching the water.

There were cardboard boxes set up. Some were empty, only with a few dirty rags laying within them. While some were occupied. Kane and I looked down at the water, it was flowing quiet easily. It gave a nice sound. At least they had that much.

Buckle bent down and picked up some old dirty blankets and laid them out. He held out his hand. "Sit. I know it's not very comfortable. But don't you worry 'bout nothin', kids." He smiled, making his face wrinkle.

We took a seat on the old blankets. It wasn't luxury, but we've survived worse than this. It was just nice to be able to sit down for once without being absolutely paranoid.

The old man returned shortly with two old, chipped bowls and rusty spoons. He held them out to us. We took them willingly. "It ain't very good." He chuckled, sitting down across from the two of us. "To be honest, it's horrible, really. But it's warm and it keeps the belly full."

We nodded and dug in. He was right about one thing, it was disgusting. I wanted to cough every time I tasted the horrid green slop in the bowl. But I was thankful when I felt my hunger calming down at last. Once the bowl was scraped clean, I set it down beside me, wiping my mouth off with the back of my hand.

Kane cleared his throat and looked up at old man. "Thank you. For helping us. We really do appreciate it, sir."

He held up a wrinkled hand. "The names Buckle. No sirs necessary. That'd be my daddy."

I smiled a little when he said "daddy". I didn't expect an old man to still call his dad, "daddy".

"So you kids have nowhere to go, eh?" Buckle asked, raising a brow at us.

"Not at the moment, we don't." I answered this time.

"Well, feel free to stay here. However long you'd like." He smirked at us. "We ain't got much here. But… we have shelter. A little warmth. We scrape by with food. But… at least we have each other, right?"

Kane nodded his head, addressing him with a smile. He took the bowls we'd finished with and held them out to the man. "Thank you. Again. You have no idea how much we are greatful. But… unfortunately, we can only stay here until tonight. After that, we have to go."

"S'that right?" He took the bowls from Kane's hands and set them down next to him on the cement. "Well, all right then."

That night, Kane and Buckle were busy talking about the old days back when Buckle and his twin were in the army together. Kane was fascinated with stuff like that. But it hardly kept my attention, so I walked off by myself, down the cement way, from under the bridge and into the moonlight. I looked up at the sky. Since it was so bright in the city, I couldn't see any stars. But it didn't matter.

As weird as it sounds, the sounds of cars rolling by on the bridge was actually soothing. Mixed with the water movement. I stopped when I met the stairs, that led down to the lower part of the sidewalk, closer to the water. I was about to walk down the steps, when I spotted someone sitting there.

The girl from earliar, sat there. She looked much younger up close. She was dirty. Way dirtier than Kane and I. Which told me that she'd been struggling for much longer than we have. She had her brown hair tied back behind her head loosely. She had a tan jacket on with green pants and boots. She had a dirty, old t-shirt on under the tan jacket. She looked lost in thought as she stared at the water passing by beneath her.

I hesitated a moment. _Should I talk to her? Or leave her be?_ I wondered. I shook my head with finality and started to walk away, when she said. "I miss the stars." Her voice was calm and quiet. I almost missed it. I looked down the steps at the homeless girl. "The stars… you can't see 'em in the city."

I stayed frozen there for a moment, holding onto the rusty railing. I didn't know what to say to the girl. So I just came up with. "Yeah."_ I'm so smooth_.

The girl remained silent for a little while longer. So I took it as my chance to get a little closer. One step down the stairs. Before I said, "You know, back where I come from, you can't see the stars at all." I bit my lip. I shouldn't be saying this. But it doesn't matter now. "In fact, there's no moon or sun. Just a sky."

She frowned a little. "Sounds depressing."

I smirked and took another step. "Well, not really. I had a lot of friends there. Even though the place was… hostile. One of my friends, he was very kind. And very clever." My tone broke from amused to more of a sorrowful tone, which caught onto the girl. "He died, unfortunately. One day, he left, because he had something he needed to complete. And he never came back." The sounds of the water flowing downstream filled both our ears. Nobody spoke and nobody moved.

A car rolled by on the bridge and then vanished into the city lights beyond. The waves were twinkling from the bright lights of the city. I lifted my nose and smelled the smell of water. It was nice. Finally, the girl said. "Madison."

I looked back at her. She was looking back at me. Her eyes were green. "My names Madison."

I smiled at Madison. "My names Ark, nice to meet you."

I made it down the steps and found myself sitting next to Madison, talking with her. About all kinds of things. We talked about our life before we were homeless, our family members, things about ourselves. It was only when we ran out of things to say, did we stop talking. We just sat in the sound of waves crashing against the cement.

"You know, when you first came in, I thought you were a boy." She admitted, biting back a laugh. I looked at her, she was obviously grinning. "Can you blame me? The way you dress and you act. And your hair… you're such a guy."

"I can assure you, I am all woman." But I found myself grinning as well.

"So is that guy your brother up there?" She asked me suddenly.

I grinned and let my head lean back against the wall behind me. "Why? Do you like Kane?"

"N-no, of course not!" She growled back at me. "I'm just curious is all."

"_Suure_." I hummed. I stood up from the metal platform and dusted my black jeans and looked back at her. "Good luck, Madison. And have a nice life." I held out my hand.

"You're leaving?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and looking down at my hand.

I nodded. "Tomorrow morning. Kane and I can't stay in one place for too long." I didn't explain why and she didn't ask. She took my hand and I pulled her to her feet. I was a little taller than her, so it made me feel even more like a guy. "I'm glad to have met you."

She nodded. "You too."

"And I'll be sure to tell Kane you said bye for you." I winked and turned my back on her, because her face was turning bright red. I waved back at her. "See ya, Madison."

The next morning, Kane and I rose earlier than everyone else had. As we walked away, I felt a tinge of sadness. It was nice having friends that didn't even know there was such a world that exists. Where no stars shined, no moon existed, no sun to give energy. It was nice to have friends that came from a world with those things. It was nice to finally _be_ in that world.

"Buckle," Kane said suddenly. I looked up at him. "Gave me this." He held out his hand to me, revealing two dollars and a few quarters. "It's enough to give us a bus ride. The ride will take us through the city halfway. That's as far as it goes."

I nodded. "All right." I looked up at the sign that read, "BUS STOP". "Let's go."

"Delilah, where are you going?" Delilah's mother asked when she came rushing down the steps, pulling on her jacket. "It's a Saturday. You don't have school today." She reminded her in case she'd forgotten and was freaking out over nothing.

"I know," Delilah said harshly, bending over and slipping on her shoes. "I'm going to the library with Rachel. We have to start on our project."

"Do you need a ride?" She asked, sounding a little hopeful.

Delilah hated to cut her down, but she just shook her head. "No. I'll just take the bus there." She ran towards the door before her mother could say otherwise. "Bye! Love you!" She yelled as she ran out into the sunlight. She sighed, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets and walking down the street slowly.

"Man, I hope today isn't a drag." She sighed.

**So there's the first Chapter. I hope you're enjoying it so far. If you're wondering why I cut off My Own Demon, I thought that it was a bit too rushed into the developing the story. So I decided to just cut it out. If you guys want it back, though, I still have the files in my computer. I AM able to bring them back, but only if you want me to. So, yeah, that's it. Thanks so much for reading! I'll be back soon with more content. **


	2. Consequences

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 2:

Consequences

_Upon our arrival into the Void, with the man in the shadow clothes, we met many of the other children who had suffered loses the same as us. And some kids parents who were willing to give the shadow man their child. There was a building strictly for the kids to sleep, eat and play as we please. It was nice for a few years. _

_ Kane and I said this was just like living with a big family. Most of us were very small. The oldest ones were twelve. Except for Al. He was seventeen. He was also the most serene of all of us. He didn't like to talk to anybody. He just sat alone, watching the time tick by in his bedroom, on his bed. He kept all the little kids away from his things by telling us that there was a monster in his closet that loves eating children. _

_ One of the kids in particular, his name was Rurik. He said that his family came from royalty. And he followed the shadow to become strong so he could be strong. Because he was the heir to his throne. Kane and I were little, so we believed him, of course. _

_ Rurik was a mischievous character. He was constantly doing something he shouldn't have been. And often brought Kane along with him. Rurik and Kane asked me if I wanted in, but I was always too busy with something, or thought the prank they were going to pull was stupid. So I ignored them. _

_ The years came and went. Two years later, when we were eight-years-old, Kane and I were called down to the Main Hall. All the kids say the shadow man lives there. Nobody speaks bad about the shadow man. Nobody's afraid of him either. In fact, he is like our father. He comes by every now and again to check on the kids, he is quite friendly with us. Smiles a lot and tells us stories. But he's always mean to Al. Who was the oldest of all of us. And all the twelve-year-olds. Seems the older we got, the less he babies you._

_ Anyway, so we walked down into the Main Hall, side-by-side. We were nervous. We'd never been into the Main Hall before and we were never asked to come down either. So we thought we were in trouble. I grasped Kane's hand and he held mine in response. _

_ Two soldiers, wearing black armor opened the large doors for us. We stepped inside the hall and looked around. The hall was filled with trophies and medals. There were glass cases, where there were heads of animals and horns. We decided we didn't like the heads, because it felt like they were watching us as we walked by. As well as the pictures. The pictures were paintings of people. They all looked royalty. Or some important people. They were pale and gothic._

_ At the end of this grand hall, was a throne. In it, sat a man in black clothing. He appeared to be writing on the desk that was in front of him. A piece of yellowed paper was scrawled out in front of him. Two guards stood in front of the king, holding up their spears and keeping their chin raised. _

_ As we got closer, the man in the black clothes looked up and smiled. A long and thin smile that he often gave to the kids down into the Orphan Room. Which is what the area that we sleep and play in is called. He sat back in his seat and chewed on his lip for a second. We stopped in front of his throne. We were smart enough kids to know that we needed to bow before our king. So we both got on our knees and lowered our heads. _

_ The king's pleased smile only widened. "Welcome, Kane and Ark. I'm sure you're a bit nervous."_

_ We just nodded. _

_ "I assure you, there's nothing to be nervous about. I simply want to talk to you." He cleared his throat, looking to his guards. They both nodded and walked down the hall, toward the exit. When we heard the door shut again, with a heavy thud, we both took the chance and looked up. "Your tenth birthday will be coming up soon. You should know that when you've reached ten, I won't allow the kid stuff to continue."_

_ We stayed silent, listening to the shadow man talk in his smooth and skin crawling way. _

_ "On your tenth birthday, I will be treating you differently than I treat the younger kids. And I expect you to listen carefully, because if you disobey me when you are older, I won't be as nice as I am now." His dark eyes turned into a glare for just a second, then returned to his soft gaze. "Every morning, you will go to the Dorm Rooms, where you will be spending the rest of your days in my Void, understood? The Orphan Room is only for the kids who keep watch over the kids."_

_ So that's why all the twelve-year-olds and Al hated being in there. We could understand it now. Being with a bunch of annoying kids, waiting for them to grow up so they could leave. Yeah, I would be grumpy too. _

_ "You will be taking classes there in the School District. The School District will hold six classes. I don't want my kids to be stupid, so you will be taking normal classes like any other normal kid. But… you will also be taking classes to improve your senses." He pointed at us. "By the time you graduate, you won't be normal children, understood?"_

_ We both nodded together, too afraid to ask or say anything else. _

_ He smiled. "Good," he walked down to the two of us and bent down in front of us. "You two are my most prized possessions. Twins are a mysterious and wondrous thing, don't you think?" He laid a hand on both of our shoulders. His hand felt like ice. "I'll make you both into fine soldiers." _

_ That was the first time we figured out. Our life is not going to be as easy as we thought_.

* * *

><p>"Ark," Kane said as we waited for the bus to come. I looked over at my brother. He seemed a little impatient about something. "I think… I think we were followed." His eyes darted around us nervously suddenly.<p>

It _was_ an odd feeling. The feeling of someone behind you all the time. Like you're doing something wrong. I swallowed and looked around me as well. Then back to my brother again. "Maybe they finally caught up with us." I whispered to him because more people were gathering around the bus stop.

"Maybe," he looked down at the ground. His eyes were glinting with nervousness. "Good thing we're leaving this place, then."

I nodded in agreement. "We have to be careful. Hades may be after us, but at least he made us into his _finest soldiers_." I rolled my eyes when I said that because I tried to mimick his voice and failed, horribly. "The point is, we're stronger than he thinks we are. Especially when we're in danger."

He nodded, although he didn't seem like he was too happy about it. "Ark, I'm starting to think we need a game plan." Kane whispered to me, eyeing the people around us as they gathered to wait for the bus, more and more. "It's one thing if we're running around all the time, just trying to get away from whatever Hades sends our way, but we need something to, you know, stop that with."

I bit my lip and thought for a second. A suddenly flashback to Rurik and I talking in class zipped into memory.

_-FLASHBACK-_

_ "What's it called?" I asked Rurik, studying the page curiously. _

_ "It's called a Summoner." His eyes glinted with excitement when he turned to look at me. "If the Summoner is really skilled, he could… summon beasts from beyond our world. And make them fight other monsters. And! He could throw the enemies monsters back!" _

_ "Wow, that would be a great power to have." I admitted, raising my eyebrows. I turned back to my Knight Handbook. "But I couldn't be a Summoner."_

_ "You're going to be a boring Knight?!" He growled at me, sounding like he was frustrated with my choice. "Ugh, you and Kane are no fun. Fine, I'll be a Summoner." He raised an eyebrow at me when I gave him a look of surprise. "Watch me!" _

-_END FLASHBACK_-

"A Summoner." I finally said, when I felt Kane's questioning gaze on me. I looked up at him. "That's what we need, a Summoner."

"That's great and all, but where the hell are we gonna find a _Summoner_?" He asked me.

"That's a good question." I sighed, sitting back into the bench. "I wish Blackjack were here. _He_ would know the answer."

We both slumped our shoulders. Blackjack _would_ know the answer. He was one of the best of us. A Death Knight, and an instructor for the kids. But he decided to stay. I guess he wanted us to face this issue of ours alone. Maybe this was some way of getting us to become even stronger in his eyes. I grumbled and laid my head back. "I wish we had a shower."

"I wish we had a lot of things, Ark." Kane sighed, leaning his chin into his palm.

The bus rode up along side us. We stood up and headed toward the open door, beating everyone else to it, luckily. We climbed on board and headed toward the back of the empty bus. We plopped down into the leather seat and turned both of our gazes to the window next to us.

Kane was closest to the window, so he paid attention to the outside. I laid my head back and allowed myself to fall asleep for just the bus ride away. And that was it.

* * *

><p>Rachel and Delilah walked up the steps and into the bus.<p>

"So you shot her down?" Rachel asked, leaning forward a little so Delilah wouldn't have to speak so loud. "Why?"

Delilah just shrugged and looked over her shoulder at Rachel. "It would be awkward, ya know?"

There was hesitation in Rachel's next choice of words. "You know she's only trying to patch things up between you two."

She was surprised Delilah didn't slap her. Instead she just said, without looking back. "I know." But she didn't sound like she cared much. "But Laura and Mom had a connection I'll _never_ understand. Now that she's gone, well… I just don't think I can be her number one daughter like Laura."

They sat down in a seat, not mentioning anything else about Laura and her mother picking favorites. Rachel wanted to tell her it wasn't true, but knew it would do no good, since Delilah was stubborn. She would refuse to believe it anyway, even if Rachel did say it.

"Delilah, let's try and figure this out, okay?" Rachel said softly to her friend, who was looking out the window, refusing to meet her eyes. "I'm no specialist on this thing, but I think if you just tell me your problem, talking with someone usually helps."

She nodded back, but said nothing in return.

The girl was getting into much more trouble on a daily basis lately than she ever has before. Despite her being a troublemaker, she made good grades. And that changed quickly too. She had a significant drop in her school grades, she ran off places more, without telling anybody. And most importantly, she was acting out much more. She didn't dare show a soft side to anybody. She didn't cry in front of anyone. Not even at Laura's funeral.

There was this thing about Laura that Delilah was connected to. Laura was… a sweet kid. Maybe the only person in the world that Delilah could ever really connect with. After she died, she refused to let anyone in. She shut herself out from the rest of the world, acting out and getting into trouble. But never, ever talking about Laura.

When the bus took a rough turn, everyone heard a loud thud in the back of the bus. Rachel leaned out of the seat and looked back.

Someone was lying in the isle of the bus, grasping their head. The other one of the two held out a hand. "You okay, Ark?" The boy asked the girl. "Falling asleep like that…"

The girl grasped his hand and stood up. "Sorry." She said, a little groggy still. The girl was weird. Short black hair, all black clothing. The earrings in her ears made her look punk. She rubbed the back of her head, which she probably banged it on. "I didn't realize this bus would be so…"

The boy chuckled and smirked. "Me neither." They took a seat back down again.

Rachel noted that the boys hair was dark brown and a little shorter than the girls hair. He didn't have a gothic or a punk look to him. Even though he was wearing dark clothes. His eyes were very blue and his skin was pale. She felt her cheeks begin to burn when she realized she was thinking _too_ much about him. Besides, that girl is probably his girlfriend.

Suddenly, she felt it. An odd sensation. Like when someone is rushing at you and you don't know why. You feel like you're about to be tackled, unless you do something to prevent it. Delilah looked at Rachel. Did she feel it too? The way she was acting, told her yes.

"What the hell is that?" Delilah whispered.

Before she could get a chance to say anything, someone rushed past her. They both looked up front and saw the girl from before grab the wheel of the bus. The bus began to swerve. Everyone screamed and there was a loud bang from behind the bus again. Then the bus stopped.

The driver glared at the girl. "The fuck's your problem!?"

The ignored the driver and looked back at the end of the bus. "Kane!" She shouted.

The boy, Kane, was looking out the emergency door. "It's coming, Ark!" He yelled back at her and backing up from the emergency door. "We have to go!"

"Right!"

A beast, so big and so menacing looking, took over the emergency door window. It growled and snapped its jaws. It looked like a dog, but it wasn't. At least, not a normal one. It had clumps of black fur on its grotesque gray skin. It had red eyes that seemed to glow. It was huge too. It stood as tall as the bus. Its face took up the entire emergency exit door.

Rachel and Delilah stood up. They exchanged looks. Nobody else had their eyes on the beast except for the four people, who were now standing. Everyone else was staring at the two people in the isle way that were backing up slowly, toward the exit.

Why wasn't anyone else screaming or running? Didn't they see it?

The two in the isle looked at the two in the seat. The four of them stared at one another for just a moment. Then they all heard the loud BANG! They all turned their attention back to the door yet again. The beast backed up and rammed the door, causing the bus to shake violently and a loud bang to occur. Now people were looking around confused.

"Drive the bus!" The girl shouted, turning back to the driver. "You have to drive! And drive fast!"

"What is that?" The driver asked, looking around like he couldn't see the obvious creature behind the bus.

"Drive!" The girl growled. "Now!"

The driver detected the deadly tone and turned back, pressing down on the gas pedal and driving forward, away from the creature. But it began to run after the bus. It was fast. It was almost catching up. The boy and the girl in the black clothes ran to the back of the bus. They checked the latch to make sure it was sealed tight.

The girl looked up at the boy. "What're we gonna do when this thing runs outta gas?"

"We break for it." He said back to her.

"We won't be able to outrun _that_." She pointed at the creature. "You gotta have a better plan than that."

He sighed and looked at her. "I would if we had Blackjack here to help us with his sword. But right now, I'm kinda at a loss here."

The girl gritted her teeth and looked back at the creature. "We gotta lead this thing away from the bus. Away from everyone else." She finally said.

"Yeah, I know." He looked back to the front of the bus. "He needs to go faster."

As the guy walked back to the front of the bus, Rachel looked out her window just to see where they were. She doubted he would be making any stops any time. She found herself looking down at the water at the edge of the city. And she suddenly had a click in her brain. "The water!" She shouted over the loud hum of the energy and the beasts rapid steps closer to the bus.

All three people who were standing up looked at her curiously. She didn't know why she said that, but she had a hunch. "The water… it'll stop it."

"You can see it?" The girl said from behind Rachel.

She looked back at the girl. "Yeah, I think so." She swallowed and then looked back down at the water. "I think the water will stop it."

The boy and the girl exchanged looks.

Delilah gripped her arm. "I think that thing can swim, Rachel."

"No, it can't." She assured her friend. "I don't know how I know or why, but I just do." She looked back and forth from the boy and the girl. She felt her friend's curious gaze on her.

The boy and the girl both nodded. The boy turned to the driver. "Stop the bus." He said firmly.

"You sure, man?" The driver asked, nervously. He hadn't seen what was making that thudding sound, but he sure was nervous about it.

The guy nodded.

"You two," the girl said from the back of the bus. They both looked at her. "Get to the front of the bus."

"You're gonna take us with you?" Delilah sounded a little annoyed and a little surprised.

"It won't leave everyone else alone unless everyone who sees it gets _off_." The girl said, giving the girl a serious look. "Now get to the front."

Rachel and Delilah crawled into the isle and toward the guy up front, who was gripping both of the seats to keep himself steady. The guy pulled them behind him. "Ark, c'mon!"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

"We don't have time for games!"

"I'm aware!" She yelled back at him, turning away. "But you guys are gonna need a second to _get _to the water." She looked over her shoulder and grinned at the guy. "I'm a perfect distraction."

The guy just grinned back and chuckled. "You really have an ego the size of texas, don't you?"

"Not really. Now go!" She shouted back when the bus came to a stop. "I'll distract it, now you guys hurry up!" She turned back to the emergency exit and twisted the latch and kicking it open. She hopped down onto the road, that was now filled with honking cars and angry people on the street that probably almost got ran over by a raging bus.

"C'mon." The guy said, opening the door himself and climbing down the steps, with the two girls following him. He looked down the road at the girl, who was now standing there, waiting for the creature to grab her. It had its full attention on the girl and picked up its speed.

They ran to the chain linked fence, climbing over it and toward the ledge. When they met at the end of the city, down below, the water currents rushed rather quickly. Delilah and Rachel shuddered and swallowed down their fear. "We're gonna have to jump." The boy said, sighing. "You girls ready?"

"As if!" Delilah gave him a look that said, 'Are you crazy?!'. "I'm not jumping down _there_."

"Just trust me." The boy turned back to her. "We'll be fine." He turned back to the water. "My sister is out there holding off that thing. I don't want to keep her."

Was it bad that when Rachel learned she was just his _sister_ that she felt relieved?

They all stared down into the water. This wasn't a charming height and this wasn't very exciting. In fact, it was terrifying. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut tightly. "Let's just do it." She said to Delilah. "Don't think about it, just do it."

Delilah sighed and took a deep breath in. "Fine!" She jumped off the ridge, it caught the boy and Rachel off guard when she did. They exchanged looks and then jumped in after her.

* * *

><p>I stepped to the side, watching its massive jaws clench down onto the empty air, where I was standing. It swung its tail at me when I managed to get behind it. I jumped and felt it swish beneath me. It charged at me. I ducked and ran in between its legs and then underneath it. Watching it smack into a nearby car, causing the horn to go off and the people on the streets that were watching me curiously to scream when it happened. I knew they couldn't see it, so I probably looked like an idiot.<p>

_Okay, this was enough time. They better have jumped_. I thought and looked at the chain linked fence they disappeared behind. I ran toward it, forgetting the beast behind me, that was backing up away from the car. I jumped on the fence and hauled myself over it easily, then I heard the fence jingle and then snap, when the Hellhound came through, coming after me.

I took a few turns through the maze of alleyways. And then stopped at the ledge, where they probably jumped from. I looked back. The Hellhound pushed past the buildings and ran at me. I quickly ran to the ledge and without hesitation, jumped.

The dog extended its neck to reach me, but the beast missed me by an inch, its massive jaws snapped on empty air, just barely missing me. I plummeted, downwards. The air ripped past me and then I felt the light sprinkles on my face take over. Then everything was dark and quiet.

I felt my body begin to float upwards. I broke through the surface and gasped. I looked up at the beast that had been chasing me before. It was patroling the edge, angrilly. It growled at me and looked like it was about to jump in, but didn't. It snarled and then lifted its head up and howled loudly. I knew that was a signal to everyone else that it has found us.

Then it spun around and took off.

I sighed, letting the currents carry me. "Escape near death." I whispered.

Moments later, I washed up to the metal platform that let fishermen and other people get to their boats easier. I pulled myself on the platform, energy almost completely depleted. I felt the water drip off of me and onto the metal platform. I laid back on the platform, looking up at the sky, at the sun. "Wonder where they are." I whispered out loud. My arms were weak and my head was spinning. I felt a headache coming on. "Damn."

I stood up from my laying position and looked around at my surroundings, trying to decipher where I was. I heard people walking above, it sounded like they were walking on docks, but I wasn't sure. I headed toward the steps and walked up, slowly and sluggishly.

When I made it to the top of the steps, I looked up through the crowd and met two blue eyes, that were staring back at me. Kane ran toward me, pushing people out of the way. I held out my arms and allowed his hug to come to me. He stiffened when he hugged me. "Don't do that ever again."

"Do you have no faith in me?" I joked, with a chuckle. "I'm okay."

"Did it work?" He asked me, talking about the water.

We pulled away. I nodded, feeling like I was about to fall asleep at any moment. "Yeah. The water worked." We both looked toward the two girls who were standing at the docks. They were talking in low voices, pointing toward us. "How'd she know?"

"Dunno." Kane let out a breath. "All I know, though, is that we are so done with water." He looked back at me with a grin. This was the second time we've been in sticky, heavy wet clothes like this. At least, this time we know that the water is a safe haven.

"Guess we should go and thank 'em." I said.

He nodded.

"You can_not_ tell me to calm down, Rachel!" Delilah growled, looking at her friend's rather calm face. "Did you see that thing?" She shook her head. "And now just that, but what about those two? Huh? It seems rather strange. How come they can see 'em, but nobody else can?"

"We can." Rachel said calmly, gripping her friends' shoulders. "Please, calm down."

"I can't! It doesn't help to know that_ we_ can see these things too." She shook her head rapidly back and forth. "How are you so calm right now?"

She didn't have the answer to that. She also didn't have the answer as to why in the world she knew that the water would keep whatever that was at bay. It disturbed her. But she had to remain calm, because right now, Delilah was not. "Delilah, please, just try to calm down, okay?"

She sighed and breathed slowly. It was a good sign. To have her doing that meant she was gaining her self control back.

"Ah, hey."

Delilah and Rachel turned to see the two from before standing there, looking like they didn't really know why they said "hey" in the first place. And that's when Delilah lost it. She growled at both of them, pushing Rachel back. "You two!" She grabbed both of their shirts and yanked them down to her level. "What the hell just happened?!"

"W-well, ya see–" the girl began, but Delilah cut her off.

"And don't tell me some crap about it being all a dream."

"We just–" this time the boy tried to answer, but once again, Delilah didn't let it happen.

"And I swear to god, if I hear some stupid riddle come out of either of your mouths, I'll bring you right back to that bus and leave you on there for that thing."

"We're fugitives!" They both answered at the same time, before she could cut them off again. Delilah released their shirts and took a step back. "We didn't do anything wrong, it's just…" the guy was having a hard time explaining something. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He held out his hand. "I'm Kane Gothard. This is my twin sister Ark."

Rachel stepped forward, since Delilah looked like she was still angry. "I'm Rachel Grove. And this is my friend, Delilah Fortune." She looked back at Delilah, she was now facing away from them, crossing her arms. She didn't understand _why_ she was so angry. "Look, we don't want to get into anything super personal, but… what exactly_ is_ going on?"

They exchanged looks. Ark stepped forward with a sigh. "We'll explain, but… can we do it in a more private manner? And when we're not dripping wet?"

* * *

><p>"Come on in." Rachel said, putting her shoes aside and stepped inside the empty house. "My Dad's off to work and my Mom's babysitting right now. So nobody's home."<p>

We walked inside the house. Kane and I felt out of place. The blonde girl, the one who seemed like she hated us, wouldn't even look at us. Which isn't like I cared or anything, but I didn't understand why she hated us. "I can get you guys some clothes in just a moment." Rachel said, and then stopped in the middle of the hall. She looked over her shoulder and shifted her weight on her feet nervously. "Ark, um… do you prefer… m-male clothes?"

I looked over at her and smiled nervously. "Oh, um, yeah. I don't do female clothing." I swallowed when I heard Delilah "hmmph!" behind me. Rachel nodded and walked down the hall again.

We waited awkwardly, standing in silence. Kane and I looked at each other. Neither one of us knew what to say, so we just kept our lips sealed shut. Delilah didn't look like she was uncomfortable, though, she looked annoyed. When she came back, she handed Kane and I some clothes, neatly folded.

"The bathroom is just down the hall, to your right." She instructed.

We nodded. Kane went in first, while I leaned against the wall, waiting for him. When the door opened and he came out, I had a look. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt. The white t-shirt revealed a portion of the tattoo on his shoulder. A little symbol to clarify that he was once a Knight. His uniform boots were still on, but it didn't matter. We didn't really have any other shoes we could wear.

I went into the bathroom, shutting the door. Once the door was closed, I looked at the mirror, at the person staring back at me. I looked away and laid out the clothes on the sink. Looks like Rachel knew my style. I pulled off my clothes and replaced them with the new clothes.

Dark blue jeans, and a long black sleeve shirt. I rolled up the sleeves, showing me the scars on my arms from the years of training and the few missions Kane and I accomplished. I considered rolling them back down, but shook my head. Who cares?

I scooped up the wet glob of clothes and carried them out.

Rachel was standing there, waiting for me. She took the clothes from me and brought them into a small backroom, where I saw a washer and a dryer. She put them in the washer and turned it on.

I bowed my head to her when she came out. "Thank you." I said.

"N-no problem." She said, waving her hand at me.

After Rachel and Delilah had also changed and cleaned up a bit, we all sat down at the table. Kane and I sat on one side, Delilah and Rachel sat across from us. Delilah wouldn't look at us, though. She glared at the table. Rachel cleared her throat. "So… care to explain?"

How could we tell them without telling them that we're Knights? No way would they believe us, first of all. And second of all… that would be dangerous for them to know. "Ah, well, you should know that there's a lot in this story that you… probably won't believe. So keep an open mind." Kane said.

"Did you forget what happened on the bus?" Delilah snapped. "There ain't much you can throw at us now."

Kane and I avoided the… we're Hades' Knights part. Instead, we worked our way around it. Told them that we have been chased down since we were kids. And have made it this far, we struggled, but we're still alive. And now, we consider ourselves "fugitives" because it feels like we're being hunted down from escaping some place we shouldn't have. Which is not a lie.

After we were finished with the story, we remained silent to hear what they had to say. We knew it was dangerous for all of us to be together in one location. It was risky. It attracts more attention from them that way. But we really didn't have a choice at the time. Plus, we owe them answers.

"That's kinda hard to take in." Rachel admitted.

"Yeah, we know." I said, laying my chin down on the surface of the table. "Look, we don't want you to get involved, okay? We just told you so that way you don't get wreckless and try to figure it out for yourself." I looked at them. Delilah was still glaring at me and Rachel was just nodding.

"We understand." Rachel said. "Do you two need somewhere to stay for tonight?"

"We do. But we don't want to bear on you." Kane held up his hands. "We'll just wait for our clothes to dry and we'll go." He promised.

"Nonsense." Rachel stood up. Her red hair looked orange when she stood in the sunlight that streamed through the window. "Feel free to stay tonight. It's warm and dry here. It's the least I can do to repay you." She looked down at Delilah who wouldn't say anything. "Delilah, why don't you stay here with us?"

She grunted. "As if. I don't wanna stay with the freak siblings." She glared at Kane and I. I crossed my arms and stood up. She did as well. We glared at each other. "Got a problem?" She sneered.

"Yeah, I do." I snapped. "Your mouth."

She sneered. "I didn't know you had a beef with my mouth."

"Don't be a pervert."

"Too late."

"Guys!" Both Rachel and Kane said at the same time. They looked at each other and then quickly back at us. "We're trying to be peaceful here." Kane said, giving me a warning glare.

We didn't take our eyes off of each other. I leaned on the table. "I wanna hear what the princess has to say."

Delilah leaned on the table too, so we were inches away from each other, glaring at each other. Our teeth grit. I clutched my fist tightly at my side. "What'd you call me, you little fugitive?"

"I called you a princess. What you gonna do about it?"

"Maybe I'll throw you to the dogs." She said in a voice that sounded cruel. "Would get you outta _my_ hair."

"I'd hate to loiter around and bother you, your highness." I gave her a fake frowny face, pouting.

"Ha!" She leaned back, looking triumphant. "Jokes on you. I don't even know what loiter means."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel facepalm. Kane sighed and shook his head, he reached out, grabbing my shirt and pulling me back. "Can't you just be quiet for ten minutes?"

"She started it!" I sounded like a child, but at the time, I didn't care. "Tell her to shut up!"

"I'm _not_ going to say that." Kane pulled me behind him and gave Delilah a smile. "I'm very sorry."

"Don't apologize." Rachel beat Delilah to whatever she was going to say. She pulled on her ear, causing her to yelp. She pushed her behind her. "Delilah is stubborn."

"Am not!" She growled, trying to free herself from Rachel's grip. "Goddammit, Rachel! Let GO!"

I smirked when I saw that Delilah was struggling. She saw my smirk and growled. I stuck my tongue out at her. Kane turned to me, looking annoyed. He grabbed my nose and pulled down so his hand was at his side like he normally would look, but still, holding onto my nose. I pulled on his hand. "Kane, knock it off!"

"Ha! Ha!" Delilah pointed at me.

Rachel pulled on her ear again, silencing her. "Well, this is going to be a little rough." She gave Kane an apologetic look. He smiled back.

"We hate to interrupt your lovey dovey stare," I started. Delilah finished with. "_But you guys are still holding onto us!_"

* * *

><p>I looked at the collection of books on the shelves. A wide selection, most were fairy tales and fantasy books. I liked those books, so it didn't bug me. I ran my fingers over the bindings of them and read each title carefully. "Wow. This is impressive."<p>

"It's my Mom's." Rachel said, laying down some blankets on the floor. "She's a big reader."

This brought me back to my day's in the Void. Many books to choose from, lots of time to myself. When Rurik and Kane went off to play pranks on other kids, I would sit by myself and read. Many books like this. They always caught my interest. But Hades confescated those books when I turned ten. Told me that I needed to study my Knight Research Books. In order to become a full-fledged Knight.

So to see these kinds of books again, brought me way back. I looked across the room at Rachel. "Is your Mom okay with this?"

She shrugged. "I'll deal with it."

"Thank you for all your help." I said, feeling bad for the fight earlier. "And I'm sorry if I made your friend and you mad."

"No, no." Rachel plopped down on the couch and sighed. "Recently, Delilah lost her sister. She was riding her bike and someone wasn't paying attention. They crashed right into her." She shook her head as if to get the memory away. "She died in the hospital four days later."

I stayed silent.

"She was always stubborn. And kind of a handful, but she's definitely changed since then." Her expression darkened. "So don't be mad at her. She's just going through stuff."

"I'm… not really mad at her, really. Even then, I wasn't." I explained. It's hard to put into words, but I guess it was fun to argue with her. "I don't really know what I'm saying, sorry."

Rachel smiled a little. "It's all right."

"Okay!" Kane came into the room, looking accomplished. "I checked the street. Looks like we're safe here for now." He looked over at me. "Although, I am worried that it had let out a howl. More of them will be drawn to this city in no time flat." He sighed, rubbing his neck like it was sore. "I'm getting too old for this job."

"You're eighteen."

"Really? Feels like I'm older."

Delilah came in shortly after, earrbuds in her ears. She was wearing shorts and a tank top on. She walked across the room and sat down next to Rachel, her music blared. She closed her eyes and began to ignore everyone in the room.

"I really hope that it stays that way until morning at least." I sat down on the floor, hugging my knees. But the odds have never been on our side, has it? "I'll keep first watch."

"Are you sure? You got the worst beeting of us all." He smirked. "Hard to stay away from the doggies."

I grunted. "I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged. "Wake me at twelve. I'll take the rest." He walked over to the blanket on the floor and laid down, curling up into the pillow and sighing. "G'night."

I rose up and walked over to the windowsill that was in the front of the house. I sat myself down on it and kept watch. Rachel began to walk up the steps. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?" She whispered to me.

I nodded. "Thank you again."

She nodded and headed up the steps.

Hours ticked by. It turned 9 o'clock. I watched the streets like a hawk. Although, it was hard staying awake. The lights were off now. So it was nice, warm, dark and quiet. I wanted to let my head fall back so I could fall asleep. But I knew I couldn't. My legs crossed over on the windowsill. I leaned my head on the glass and watched carefully. The street lights flickered.

Every now and again a car would pass by. But nothing else happened for a long, long time. I sighed. I hated being on watch, to be honest. But I had to do it. If I didn't, more lives were at stake here. So I kept my head up and kept on watching the road.

"Surprised you're still awake." I jumped at the sound of a voice. I snapped my head around and spotted Delilah at the bottom step. She had her hand on the railing, the other hand holding her MP3 player. She arched a blonde brow at me, waiting for me to say something.

"What is it?" I asked, turning my gaze back to the window. I didn't want to get into another fight, so I would have to be careful.

"Nothing, can't I just say hey?" She snapped and then brushed her hair away from her face. "Let me start over." She held out her hand. "My names Delilah Fortune."

I took it and shook it. "Ark Gothard."

"So… _Ark_, judging from the scars, you've been through the ringer more times than one." She said my name, with a little hesitation and awkwardness.

I looked down at my pale arms. "Yeah, you could say that."

"I get the feeling you're leaving out something." She sat down across from me. "Am I right?"

"I don't know if I should answer that question." I smirked at the blonde in the darkness. "Why are you interested?"

She hesitated a moment. I watched her face carefully in the darkness, wondering what this girl could be thinking. Then she took me completely by surprise, by saying. "I wanna come with you."

My eyes widened. Then I relaxed a bit and crossed my arms. "I don't think that'd be wise. After all, we don't get along that well."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "I don't get along with _anybody_." She became serious again. "For real, though. I want to."

"Why this sudden interest in Kane and I?" I lifted my brow at her.

"Well, to be honest, I never really liked staying here. This city, this life. It's just not what I want. I can't stand it here. I've always thought about running away. But my sister was the only reason I stayed. And she's… dead. So I have no reason to be here anymore."

"Your parents?"

"They liked Laura better than me anyway."

"Rachel? Any other friends?"

"Rachel's my only friend I really care about. And I think she'll come too. If you let us." She glanced over at Kane, sleeping on the floor then leaned over and whispered. "I think she likes your brother."

I grinned and looked back to the window. "It' not like I don't want you to come. It'd certainly be much more fun with an audience coming with us." I smirked at her when I saw the look on her face. I don't think she likes being addressed as an "audience". "However… Kane and I don't want to endanger you two."

"You won't." She tried to say. "Rachel saved your ass's today."

"Eh, I guess so." I shrugged. _It_ was _odd_ _how she knew to get in the water_. I thought, but didn't dare say it out loud. I didn't need to encourage her. "Look, I can't make any final decision right now. Okay? I have to talk to Kane about it first." I bit my lip and then said. "We'll let you know tomorrow."

She looked a little hopeful and stood up. "Thanks." She said, before heading up the steps.

I shook Kane until his eyes opened. He looked up at me, groggily. "My turn?" He asked, wiping away some drool from the corner of his mouth.

I nodded.

He rose from the floor and dusted himself off, still struggling to keep his eyes open. He gave me a smile, before walking toward the look out spot we'd chosen. I bit my tongue. No, he needs to know. "Kane." I said when he sat down on the windowsill.

He looked over at me, blinking to get the sleep out of his eyes.

"They want to come."

"What?"

"Rachel and Delilah. They wanna come with us." I sat myself down on the floor, where he was laying previously. The spot was warm. I had my back turned to him and my head hanging low. I crossed my arms as well as my legs. "What do you think?"

He was quiet for a long time. I was surprised he was even considering it. Maybe he liked Rachel too. "I-I don't… it seems risky."

"I know."

"And they could get hurt."

"I know."

His sleepiness wore away pretty quickly after that. I considered laying down after he stopped speaking. I almost did it too, until he said. "It may be good." He whispered. "Rachel was… able to tell us what to do when we didn't even know. Not to mention it'll be entertaining to have some others around too."

Was he actually going to say yes? I looked over the couch at him. He swallowed and then said. "I'm okay with it."

I bounced to my feet, leaning on the back of the couch. "You're okay with it?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "We could always give them lessons. It'd be nice, ya know?"

"But… Kane…" I didn't know what to say. Having others along with us made me worry on levels I never thought I could before. It wasn't that I didn't want them to, but because they weren't involved in this like we were. They could see things other people couldn't sure, but… to have them tangled into this mess with us made me cringe. It was like taking away someones life.

No, it's _exactly_ like taking away someones life. I know Kane and I will never be allowed to go to school, we won't be allowed to have a house, because we have no money. We can't get a job because we've never had one before. The only thing we were able to do now was run. And keep running, praying that one day, it'll end.

How can he even think of considering it? Doesn't he know the costs it will bring them? Not to mention their families. They may not care, but I sure as hell do! I know that three months of this fugitive running stuff, and they'll be wanting to go back. I want to go back to the Void sometimes, just so I won't have to keep running. But I know Hades won't let us live if we do that.

"Ark." Kane said. I looked up at him. His smirk was visible in the dark. "You're worrying too much."

"How do you know–?"

"Because you got that look on your face." He chuckled. "Look… I'm not gonna say no. But I'm not gonna say yes. I'm giving my opinion on it. I don't mind if they do." His brows creased only a little. "But they have to know the consequences if they are to come with us."

I didn't say anything in return. I just laid down on the hard floor and shut my eyes, curling up into a ball and allowing myself to slip into a deep sleep. And hopefully, in the morning, things can be resolved.

**Sorry it took so long to get this out. I was having some problems. But now it's out and in the open. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. Anyway, peace! Thanks so much for reading! I'll be back soon with more content! Bye, bye! **

**-ComicalFace**


	3. Kidnapped

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 3:

Kidnapped

_Our tenth birthday party was spent in the Orphan Room. The two of us spent it with one other kid. Her name was Eve. She had the same birthday as us. We were lucky to have such a big party. Because the three of us knew what the younger kids, did not. This was going to be our last night with them. _

_ Rurik, who was one year younger than us, actually knew as well. He gave us both hugs. When he hugged me, he whispered. "I'll see you in the Dorms when I turn ten."_

_ When we pulled away, I smiled. "See you then."_

_ At the end of the party, the shadow man came. He smiled at the little kids and they all jumped for joy when he came, hugging his legs and smiling up brightly at him. "All right, all right." He said, urging them to calm down. "I'm gonna take the three birthday kids to somewhere else. They won't be back for a long time, so go to bed. Okay?"_

_ They all "awww"'d. And trudged to their beds to go to sleep for the night. Shadow man turned to the three of us, we all awaited him patiently and quietly. "Go get your things." He said in a low voice. "Don't bring anything that isn't necessary. Anything else is a liability."_

_ We nodded and quickly walked to our rooms. Kane and I only packed a little clothes and something else that we wanted to keep just for the hell of it. When we had everything, we went to join the shadow man again. Eve was already there, watching us with grim eyes. I knew she hated the fact that she would have to fight. Eve was a gentle girl. One that was totally against war. And we were probably going to be in it very soon. _

_ When we headed out the door into the snowy night, we all shivered. The shadow man, however, seemed unaffected. As he led us through the snow, I felt my skin sting when the flakes touched. I looked over at my brother, he was looking away, shielding his face from the harmful blasts of icy air. _

_ We finally made it to the Dorm building. The building was long and created a circle around a courtyard. On its right, I noticed stables, with a picket fence leading around in a large circle. I had to squint, but I was able to see some horses. They were all dark. _

_ We stepped inside the building, feeling the warmth wash over us and gave our tense shoulders a rest for a moment. I breathed in the warm air and released it. The shadow man dusted his suit off and then called. "Blackjack!" He shouted. _

_ A black streak flashed in front of us only a moment. When I blinked again, the black streak turned into a rather pale man with a black uniform on. His eyes were so dark, they almost looked as dark as the shadow man's. His hair was shaggy and in his eyes. He had gloves on his hands and a pair of boots almost reaching his knees. He saluted the shadow man. "Sir."_

_ "I have the three new soldiers." He said, turning to us. "Take good care of 'em. You will be their teacher."_

_ "Yes, sir." He turned his dark eyes onto the three of us. Who were standing in the corner with scared expressions on our faces. Er, well I hope Kane and Eve looked as terrified as I did. The shadow man said nothing more, nor did he look our way as he exited the Dorm building. _

_ When he was gone, the dark haired man, Blackjack, leaned over us, towering over us like a monster. "Let's get one thing straight." He said in a rather chilling voice. "You kids are new, so I'll lay it on you nicely. You're not gonna be babied here, understood?" He snapped like he was already angry with us. Damn, this school is gonna be rough. "I ain't your mama and nobody else here is either. So… you shrimps better toughen up. This school won't be easy. Especially for ten-year-olds."_

_ We followed the dark haired man down the narrow hall quietly. Eve, Kane and I didn't even look at each other as we walked. We were too scared to do anything besides walk. So that's all we did. When we came to a stop, he turned to us, crossing his arms. "This is where the little soldiers sleep. The boys and the girls will be separated at the staircase, you'll see when you go in." He bent down in front of us. "No matter what, you do not go up to the Older Section of the building, understood?" _

_ We all nodded, still not speaking. The man stood up again, placing his hands on his hips. He looked down at us, without turning his head down, so it made it look like he was disappointed or glaring at us. "Go inside. We'll begin class tomorrow." He turned his back on us. "Good night." He barked as he walked down the hall._

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes when I felt the sunlight on my face.<p>

I blinked a few times before sitting up. Kane was still at the window, staring outside. He didn't even looked remotely tired. I stretched my arms and picked myself off the ground. "What time is it?" I asked, still groggy.

Kane looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall. "It is…" he paused for a moment, reading the clock. "Seven in the morning." He finished, turning his eyes back on me. "You look well-rested."

"Yeah, well, I don't feel it." I chuckled, leaning on the arm rest of the couch. I looked around the room. Nope, looks like it wasn't a dream.

"The two have already gotten up." Kane shook his head at me. "Delilah said that she needed to call her Mom. And Rachel said she needed to go buy groceries since her Mom decided to spend the night." He stood up from the windowsill and placed a hand on his hip. "You're a heavy sleeper, Ark."

"Am not." I rolled my eyes.

"Yup. You definitely are." He shook his head. "Have you forgotten about Blackjack's way of waking us up?"

"Yeah, how can I forget?" I grumbled. "The ass had the nerve to throw water on the heavy sleeper's." I rolled my eyes when I remembered.

"And you were one of those kids."

"I was tired! Training was hard my first day. I got my ass whooped like ten times!" I admitted, feeling a little tinge on my cheeks for admitting it. "The least he could have done was give me a second. Jeez…"

"You knew the rules." He shook his head again, I felt like he was scolding me for something that happened years ago. "Blackjack's motto was, 'The early bird doesn't get water dumped on 'em'."

"It's the early bird gets the worm." I corrected him. I plopped back on the couch. "I always hated that saying."

"You hated it because he made it up when he dumped the water on you." Kane laughed when I glared at him. "I gotta say, I think that made me instantly like him, and instantly fear him more."

"Tell me 'bout it." Then we went silent. It was sad to admit that we missed our teacher. Even if he was an asshole. He was still the one who had gotten us out of the our almost-death. And our escape from that damn Void. I just feel bad for leaving him. Who knows if Hades already knows about Blackjack and his schemes? And who knows what he could do to him if he did find out…

The depressing thoughts were cut off when Delilah trudged into the room, holding a phone in her hand. She was rolling her eyes and nodding into the phone. "Yeah," she sighed. "Yes, Mom." She widened her eyes and we both saw her blush. "Jesus Christ, mother. I just went over to _Rachel's_ house!" She sighed and said. "Yeah, bye." She clicked it off quickly, as if scared she'd ask another weird question. "Jeez…"

We both smirked at the girl. "Sounds like you're having mama troubles." I said, leaning back on the couch. "Got a boyfriend she's worried about?"

She rolled her blue eyes. "Yeah, right. She thinks I'm messing around with boys when I'm not at home. Because I've been off my rocker the past few weeks." She held up a hand and looked like she was promising us something. "I. Am. A. Virgin."

This time, it was my turn to turn red. I sat up instantly. "Y-yeah, aren't most people?!"

She looked surprised for a second at my sudden reaction, then gave me a devilish smirk. "Not Rachel." She chuckled. "'Course… she'll deny it." She looked down at her nails, looking bored. "She's always like that. She's a good friend and certainly has more self control than _I_ do, but… she's not all

goody-two-shoes." Then she looked at me more closely and chuckled. "You're a virgin, I'm guessing?"

"Of course!" I felt my face burning. Kane was chuckling. Although, I don't know what he was laughing at. He was still a virgin. _I think_.

She held up a hand. "Calm down, little fugitive." She rolled her eyes. "I'll remember to watch my mouth around you." She winked. "Wouldn't wanna berate your ears with dirty talk."

I glared at her, through my blushing. "I'm not a child!"

"Calm down, you two." Kane said, raising his hands up, but he was still laughing. "I don't wanna have to break up _another_ fight between you two."

Delilah waved her hand at me and sat down in the arm chair, resting her leg upon the other. "So have you guys made up your minds yet?" She turned serious now.

We exchanged looks. I had a feeling Kane and I would be disagreeing. Kane sighed and said. "I am okay with it." He said finally.

"And… I'm unsure." I finally said. I didn't want to say no, because I wanted to hear what she had to say first. And then I would make my final decision.

"What are you _unsure_ about?" She asked, rather calmly.

I sat back into the seat and crossed my arms. I felt like I was about to get into a fight. "Look, it's not like I don't want you two to come. It would be much more fun with you two. However, I don't want to damage your future. You have school, you have parents. And I'm sure you have friends that would care if you left." I looked up at Kane, who wasn't looking at me, but out the window again, probably deciding he wanted to let _me_ handle this one. "If you come with us, you must be ready to give all of that up. For a much, much harder life."

She shrugged, not looking fazed at all. "I've been through worse." She said. Even when she knew what the monsters looked like and what they'd have to go through every day, she still resists? Rachel warned me she was stubborn, but _this_ stubborn? When she saw the expression on my face, she rolled her icy blue eyes. "Don't give me that look."

"How can you say that so easily?" I frowned at her. "Are you so quick to leave your mother?"

"Walk a mile in my shoes, little fugitive, and you'd understand." She snapped back at me. I felt the rising tension in the room, we were getting angry at each other.

"Right back at ya."

"Guys!" Kane sighed, grasping his head, probably because he was getting a headache. "Three minutes. That's all I ask. Three minutes with no fighting. Just a calm conversation."

Delilah and I exchanged looks. Then we both nodded and I said in a much more calm and less-biased way. "So… I don't really like the idea."

"I see." She bit her lip thinking for a moment. "Maybe we can negotiate?"

Before I could say anything, we heard the door creak open and in came Rachel, holding some bags. Kane immediately jumped in to help her. "Hey, guys." She said, sounding a little breathless. "What'd I miss?" She asked.

I remembered, suddenly, what Delilah had told me about Rachel and her… secret. And my face got red. But I quickly played it off, by laughing a little. "Ahaha! N-nothing, really!"

She gave me a peculiar look. She could obviously tell something was up. But shrugged and went into the kitchen anyway. We all moved to the kitchen to help put things away. The whole time, it felt like we were natural to one another. We joked around, we talked. We stopped sometimes putting things away and just talking about random things. It felt like I've known these guys for forever and I was really enjoying it. I had to admit, it was really making me wish I could be as easy going as Kane and say, 'Hell, yeah, I want you to come with us!'. But I wasn't. I still didn't like the idea.

Even Delilah seemed to relax a bit. We didn't even get into a fight. Although she did slide some ice down my back when I had my back turned to her. Guess I can't let my guard down when it came to her.

After everything was put away, the four of looked at each other. I fought the urge to grin. I don't know why I'm grinning. That's why I didn't want to let it show. It felt like if I grinned then people would question it and kill it. Plus, well, it'd be weird to grin about absolutely nothing.

"I asked for us to go with them." Delilah quickly said to Rachel. She sounded like she was trying to get it out before Rachel could blow up.

Her eyes widened. "You want to…"

"I don't have any real reason to stick around here anymore. I want you to come with me, though." She gave her friend a soft look. "What do you say?"

Rachel looked on the ground. "I don't know, Delilah. What we dealt with on the bus didn't frighten you at all?"

"Not really."

"Well, what about school? We can't just drop everything and leave. And our parents. It isn't fair."

Delilah shrugged. "Do what you like, Rachel."

She sighed and placed hand on her other arm. "You know I can't just leave you alone with these two." She motioned toward us. Kane and I gave each other a look that said, 'What's wrong with these two?', but we didn't say anything, of course. "Look, I'll go with you if I knew we'd come back alive."

"We _will_." She said, trying to convince her friend with a light tone. She took Rachel's hands into hers and held them in between each other. "We will, I promise." Although, I had a feeling Delilah didn't care if she didn't come back alive, or at all.

Rachel looked over at us two. "And what did you say about this?"

"I said I was okay with it."

"I don't like it, to be honest."

So the way it looked, Rachel and I were on one side, while Delilah and Kane were on another. And everyone else seemed to take notice to this as well. Because Delilah positioned herself so she stood beside Kane, who crossed his arms in response. Rachel and I walked beside each other and faced the two. We had a staring contest, it felt like.

At the end of the stare-down, Rachel and I exchanged looks. "I don't want to endanger you two. And I also don't want to ruin your lives by taking you with us. If you were to come with us, then you must know that you will never be able to go to school, never get a job, and most certainly never be able to start a family."

Delilah seemed hardly affected by this. Rachel was less. She looked a little worried for Delilah. "That's why I said, what if we compromise?"

"Like?" I lifted a brow.

She tapped her chin. "What are you willing to do?"

Kane and I looked at each other from opposite sides. We both nodded, hoping we had the same thought, he said. "We're willing to stay here for a while, while you two go to school and whatnot. Maybe you guys can convince us some time."

Delilah grinned, she looked like she was victorious. "Deal." She nodded. And looked at Rachel. "And I'll convince you too."

"Sure you will."

* * *

><p><em>Two weeks later...<br>_

Delilah heard her mother's drunken babble and her father's rage. She walked up the steps and into the bedroom at the end of the hall. She slammed it shut so she wouldn't have to hear the voices anymore. But their voices could be heard through the door, no surprise there. She plopped down onto the bed.

When she put her earbuds in and turned the music on, she turned it up to full blast. It blocked the noise for a second. But it wasn't long before she heard them stomping down the hall, toward their bedroom. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to the door. Her father had turned into an incompetent jerkwad and her mother had turned into a drunkard.

She opened her eyes to stare at her ceiling and saw a shadow cascading down her bedroom floor. Coming from her window. She looked up and spotted someone standing in it. She was about to scream, "Pervert!" but stopped when she saw that it was only Ark.

_Well, they're not that far off, I suppose_. She thought. And got up and walked over to her window to let Ark inside. She unlocked the window and pulled it open. Ark crawled inside, dripping wet from head to toe. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, not quite understanding why she was here.

Ark ran a hand through her short, wet, black hair. "Kane was busy scoping our the area. And I was nearby, so I figured I'd stop in." She shrugged, looking at the dark room. Although, there wasn't much to look at. Delilah was never creative when it came to her room.

"Well, you came at a bad time." She glared at her door, where she knew beyond it was her arguing parents. "My Mom and Dad are fighting."

Ark looked at the door as well. Then back down at Delilah. She seemed to always have an angry expression on her face. She really needs to change her mood from "angry" once in a while. "Keep your face like that for too long, it'll stick."

Delilah just rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed, laying back on it, with a huff. "I've been this way for a long time. Mom even says that when I came out, I was frowning." She smirked when she remembered that moment. It had grossed her out and also made her laugh.

"I feel like that should surprise me." Ark joked, leaning against the window. "But somehow, it doesn't."

She sat up again, crossing her leg over the other. "I saw you at my school." She arched a brow at her. "Why?"

"Hey, you're the one trying to convince me." Ark smirked mischievously. "I'm just observing is all."

She snorted. "Why don't you just apply? So you can stalk me easier."

Her face got red. "I'm not stalking you." She scratched her face and then said. "But that's not important. I can't apply."

"Too dumb?"

"No!" She sighed, with frustration clearly in her voice. "I have taken many classes back where I'm from. However, I don't think they'd appreciate me being there."

"Why not?"

"I'd be too ahead of everyone." She said, bluntly. She shrugged, looking away from Delilah. "Too smart, too althetic."

She looked up at Ark with surprise. "Huh. Didn't know you had such a big ego."

"I really don't." She scratched her chin again. Delilah picked up on it. It must be nervous habit she had. "But I went to an advanced school. Kane and I had to learn things pretty quickly." A distant look fell over her eyes. "So I doubt your school will be much of an effort."

Delilah was about to say something to comfort Ark, she seemed upset about something or in deep thought. But she quickly snapped out of it. She was _not_ about to get soft. "Whatever. Scaredy cat."

"I-I'm not a–"

There was a crash from beyond the door and some more yelling. They both looked at the door, as if to see if someone would be coming through it any moment.

Then they relaxed when the screaming and yelling became muffled again. Delilah sighed and turning back to Ark, now relaxed again. "This happens all the time now, don't worry."

"How long has that been going on?" Ark asked, nudging her chin toward the door.

She shrugged. "It started after Laura died. And they've been fighting a lot since then." She laid back on the bed again, turning her blue eyes to the ceiling. "Mom liked Laura more than me, so it's understandable. And my Dad… he just distracts himself with work, so he doesn't have to pay attention to what's really going on."

Ark was silent for a while. Delilah considered saying something, but before she could, Ark said. "There's… a friend of mine…" she began in an odd and foreign tone. Delilah lifted her head up and looked across the room at Ark, who was still standing beside the window. "Her name was Eve. Her birthday was the same as mine. So… she and I would like to spend it together. We did that for a few years. And then she… just ignored me."

Delilah sat up fully, staring at Ark, even though Ark was looking at the gruond. "I tried to ask her what was wrong. But she just said that it was nothing. Just continued to ignore me." Her face darkened. "We never spoke after that. I still don't understand what I did." She explained. The lightning flashed and Delilah caught a glimpse of her face in a clearer light. A frown. "Although, I try not to think about it."

"What happened to her?" Delilah found herself asking.

Ark looked out the window. Her reflection showed another frustrated look. "She… ended up with someone."

She didn't understand. But she stayed silent, not wanting to push it. _Damn, I've gone soft_. She shook her head like she was trying to get something off of her and stood up. "Well, shit happens." She shrugged, walking over to the door. She leaned down and peered through the keyhole. The hallway was empty, but there was stuff knocked down in the isleway, probably from her mother slipping and knocking things down because she was drunk. She sighed and looked over at her jacket. And then smirked. "Let's go."

"Huh?"

She grabbed her jacket and slipped it on. She grabbed her boots and pulled them on quickly, tying them hastily. "I don't wanna stay around here." She walked over to the window and pulled it open.

Ark grasped the window, blocking her way. Delilah looked up at Ark. "What?" She demanded impatiently.

"It's raining!" She looked back out there like Delilah didn't notice.

"No shit." She rolled her eyes, moving her hand.

"You'll get sick if you go out." Ark called after her as she stepped out onto the roof. "And wet."

She rolled her eyes again, looking back at Ark. The raindrops were already going down her shirt and through her blonde hair. "You coming or not?"

Ark sighed and pulled her way through the window. "Yeah." She groaned and shut the window. "Where are we going?" She shouted a little through the rain droplets.

"Don't know." She admitted, running down to the side of the house, to the tree. She grasped onto the branch and swung herself down, plopping down onto the lower branch. She jumped down the rest of the way with a thud. She looked up to wait for Ark. She was expecting Ark to use the tree to get down. But instead she heard a loud thud beside her and nearly tripped over herself, backing away for a moment. She looked up at Ark, who was getting the dirt and mud off the palms of her hands.

Ark looked up at Delilah and smirked at the expression on her face. "Impressed?"

_Yes_. "Pfft. Yeah, right." She turned her back on Ark and began walking across the lawn, to the road. The rain still making both of them soaked. "We should probably hurry." She looked up at the stormy black sky and then back down at Ark. "I have an idea."

"Ah, okay." They ran through the rain, their shoes beating the ground as they went. When they got to the end of the road, Delilah pointed across the road at an old fence. "What about it?" Ark asked.

"There's a trail that leads to a hideout Rachel and I made when we were kids." She told Ark. "Come on." She ran across the road, hearing Ark following. When they made it to the fence, they crawled through the old hole that was still there, after all those years.

More mud and dirt scraped off on them, but they kept going. Delilah lead the way through the trees, closer to the little hideout.

They both stopped when they reached the area. A bunch of old cement blocks in one area. They had been dumped off here a long time ago. There were a lot of open spots to crawl inside and holes that they could use for windows. But it was also a good way to get out of the rain.

They crawled through the gap and under the large cement blocks. When they were under the cover of cement, Ark sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Man, that was freezing."

The space that Rachel and Delilah had used didn't seem to change. Even after this long. The old blanket was still lying on the ground, it was ripped and dirty. The lawn chairs they'd brought in were also sitting around the edges of the room. It was nice. The place looked a little old, but it was very cool to see that it was still here. There was an old firepit that they made with an old rusty metal ring to hold the flames in place. There were old logs still inside. A box of matches was on an old cardboard box that they used for a stand.

"Wow," Ark sounded genually surprised. Her eyebrows lifted. "This is impressive."

"I know," Delilah smirked and walked over to the old lawn chair and dusted it off, then taking a seat into it and sitting back to relax. She pointed at the little passageway that led to another space under the cover of the cement blocks. "We used that as our Sun Dial room." She said. "We have these three holes in the ceiling. The one closest to dusk is how we figured out it was getting late. The one right in the top was the one that told us it was mid afternoon. Then the one closest to dawn told us it was early in the morning. If the sun was close to the hole or in the hole."

"Clever." She nodded her head. "I'm impressed."

"Gonna take a seat or stand there awkwardly?" She lifted her brows at Ark.

Ark rubbed the back of her head nervously but walked over to the lawn chair next to hers, dusted it off and took a seat in it. "So… why are we here?"

"Why not?" She countered, tugging on her blue jacket. _Ugh, it'd be more helpful if it wasn't, you know, wet_. "It's peaceful out here." She told Ark. "No yelling. Just the rain."

Ark was silent for a moment, she leaned her head back on the back of the chair, looking up at the fort ceiling. Finally she said: "Yeah, I guess it's kinda nice."

They were silent for a while. Listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the cement. It was relaxing. If they weren't so cold, they could probably fall asleep right then and there. Delilah snapped her head up. "I have an idea." She leaned over and grabbed the box of matches from the box and took a match out, lighting it, then bringing it down to the logs. Luckily, they were dry. It took a second, but it lit up pretty well.

The light of the fire illuminated their faces and sent warmth through their cold bodies and their wet clothes. Ark held out her hands to capture the warmth. Delilah looked at Ark. She had a gothic appearance. But she didn't act like one. It was odd. She had black clothing on and her hair was always spiky. She was boyish. Her skin was very pale, like she spent her whole life sitting in the shadows. Then Delilah spotted something on her neck.

Was that a tattoo?

The design was hard to describe. It was a black tattoo that only just peaked out from underneath her shirt. And onto her neck. Delilah frowned and leaned a little closer to get a better look. Ark hadn't noticed until Delilah said. "What is that?"

Ark looked at her, backing away a little because she was closer than she thought. "What is what?"

"That thing on your neck."

She touched her neck and then looked down at her shoulder. She took her hand away. "It's a vow."

"Oh, I had no idea you were married." She joked with a grin.

"I'm not." Her face got a little red. "It's a vow for something else." She looked back at the fire. "It was for… someone I was supposed to protect. And serve."

Delilah looked over at the fire, watching the flames lick the air. The crackling took over the silence for a bit. She crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. "So you used to be like… part of the military or something?" _No way, she's too young. Isn't she? Come to think of it… I have no idea how old she is_.

"In a way." She shrugged, sitting back into the seat again. "I used to be part of an organization, let's just say."

"You're not settling my nerves by saying that you were 'part of an organization'." She raised a brow at her. "How do I know you're not like an assassin or something?"

"If I was an assassin, I wouldn't be that easy to figure out." She smirked in the firelight. Her brown eyes twinkled in the light with amusement. "I am no assassin. I'm not that stealthy."

"So what are you then?"

"Hmm… I wonder." She looked back to the fire, still smirking, eyes still glinting with amusement. Delilah frowned. "I guess you'll have to find out for yourself."

As they sat in silence yet again, they heard the rain calm and then eventually stop. They looked at each other and grinned. Delilah rose up and moved to the Sun Dial room. She checked where the moon was. Close to the middle hole. She sighed and moved back into the room. "Looks like it's getting pretty late."

"Then I should take you back home." She stood up. They were both still wet, but nothing could be done about it. "I'll have to find Kane. Then we'll go and sleep somewhere warm."

"All right." She looked at the burning flames. "What're we gonna do about that?"

Ark stepped onto the log, watching the sparks fly into the air and then vanish. When the fire was gone, she stepped back and placed her hands on her hips. She looked down at her shoe. "I really need some new shoes." Delilah agreed. The shoes looked like they went through hell. Actually, all of Ark looked like she'd been through hell.

The clothes that Rachel had given her were already torn and dirty. Her boots were torn at the top, the laces were in strands. Her arms had scratches and bruises. The scars were hardly noticeable. Ark had a bruise on her jawline. Delilah arched a brow. "You get into a fight?"

She looked up at Delilah, obviously confused.

She pointed at the bruise on her face.

Ark touched the skin where it was bruised and then lowered it. "Oh… Kane and I were practicing. He got a good punch on me." She explained, shoving her hand into her pocket. "Guess it's still bruised."

"You two get really rough with each other."

"It's necessary." She shrugged again and then looked up at Delilah. "Let's go. I already feel guilty enough."

She rolled her eyes and followed Ark out of the hideout.

* * *

><p>I stepped inside the little area Kane and I called our "Base Camp".<p>

We'd taken the spot in an old warehouse, where lots of others lived as well. We were just another addition to their little home. Homeless people were living all over the place there. Kane and I were just like them. We had a little spot, on the first floor. It was probably an office. Er, used to be.

The old desk held our belongings. Well, all the belongings we had. We had to keep the door shut and barred shut, otherwise someone could come in and take our things.

Kane and I had found two large metal pipes we used for practice since we didn't have our weapons here with us. Although, we were practicing more with our hand-to-hand combat since we didn't have anything we could use besides our fists. But we weren't going to let ourselves get rusty.

We managed to find some old cloth and blankets and used them as our bed.

Kane and I stood opposite sides of each other. Holding up our fists, staring each other down. The glare was not a hateful one. But more of a playful one. Kane came at me first. He took the first swing at me. He was fast. I stepped aside, allowing his fist to glide just past my face. I grabbed his arm, making the motion to notify that I could have broken his arm if I really was his enemy.

But before I could make any sort of motion, his other fist glided over his arm in a quick flash. I bent backwards, watching his fist go over my head just barely missing me. I leaned back all the way so my hands were touching the ground and pushed my weight onto my hands and then landing back on my feet again. Now away from him once again.

"Good." Kane chuckled. "Looks like you're not rusty."

"Right back at ya." I smirked.

We both lunged at each other. I bent my knees and swung my leg underneath his feet, to try and trip him. He jumped over my attempt and I stood back up. He spun around after he jumped and brought his elbow toward my face. I brought my hands up, arms raised in an "X" to stop the blow.

His elbow smashed into my arms, causing a shoot of pain to travel through my body. I pushed him off and brought my knee up, catching my blow into his lower back and causing him to stagger forward and onto the floor. He looked down at his hands that were holding him up for a while, then looked over his shoulder at me. "What a cheap shot."

"_You're_ the one that fell for it."

"That I have." He rose up again, cracking his knuckles. "One more round."

I fell to the floor, gasping and panting, feeling the sweat pouring down my face. Kane leaned on his knees a few feet away, also panting. He stood up straight, placing his hands on his hips. "All right." He rubbed at his arm. I could tell there was going to be a bruise there. "Let's call it quits for now, eh?"

I nodded in agreement. "I don't think I could have taken any more." I laid back on the cold floor, staring up at the ceiling. The sunlight was dim, but definitely coming soon. "We've been at it all night."

"Yeah, I'm beat." He plopped down in the pile of blankets and turned his back to me. "One things for sure." He said, through pants. "Neither one of us has gone rusty just yet."

"I don't think we'll have an opportunity to _be_ rusty." I said. "Considering the situation we're in." I was referring to our escape from the Void and Hades bitterness toward us.

"Yeah, guess that's right." Kane mumbled.

I crawled over to the mess of cloths and laid down, my back turned on Kane. I swallowed down my dry throat.

It wasn't long before we both fell into an uneasy sleep.

Rachel walked with Delilah through the hallway of their school. She peaked over at her friend, who was listening to her blaring music, as usual when she didn't feel like talking or was bored. She sighed, looking at the other students as they walked past.

Last night, Kane and Rachel had seen each other. Kane was apparently patrolling the area while Rachel was getting back from a late night study session at school. They walked together and talked for a long time. Rachel really missed him.

They stopped at their lockers and put in the combination. She looked back over at Delilah again. She looked focused on putting her things away. Still, Rachel wanted to ask her a question. When she finally seemed like she was good to talk to, Rachel said. "Delilah, what do you think of Kane and Ark?"

She looked surprised, but cleared her throat and said in a calm voice. "Well… I think they're a couple of nutjobs." She told her frankly. "Why do you ask?"

She shrugged. "They seem shifty, don't they?" She looked back into her locker. "Like they have a secret."

"Even if they do, so what?" She closed her locker and turned to Rachel. "It doesn't matter, really."

"You really don't care?"

"No." She shrugged and sighed. "It's not like I'm _friends_ with them." She made a "hmmph" sound and looked toward the window across the hall. "I hardly know 'em."

Rachel bit her lip. "If you say so." She leaned against her locker and decided to have a bit more of a normal conversation. "I hope you've studied."

"Pfft." Delilah shook her head. "I don't study."

"Delilah, you _have_ to." Rachel glared at her careless friend. "You won't pass with that attitude."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not worried about that."

"You should be." She snapped. "It's important."

Delilah glared back at her friend. "Studying doesn't help anything. I couldn't remember that bullshit even if it hit me in the eyeball."

"It's not gonna be the only thing hitting you in the eyeball if you keep that up." Rachel stood off the locker. She crossed her arms at her friend. "I can come over and help you study if that's what it takes."

"I don't need your help." She snapped. "I can study if I choose to. I just decide _not_ to."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of." She muttered.

Delilah, once again, rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me, all right?" She turned her back on Rachel and headed down the hall, toward their first class.

Rachel sighed, but followed after her.

* * *

><p>During math class, Delilah sat in her seat, doodling in her notebook, waiting for the teacher to shut up. She sighed quietly to herself and looked out the window. What she would give to get the hell outta this damn room. She placed her chin in her palm and watched as people down below walked around and talked. Cars drove by. <em>What I would give to leave this place and never come back<em>.

Just then, she felt it. A surge of something. She couldn't really describe the feeling. Just a rush. It caused her heart rate to pick up and an electric jolt to run through her body. She stiffened up at first, not sure what had happened and then two names popped into her head. _Kane and Ark_. She swallowed and straightened in her seat. She kept her eyes on the glass, or rather on everything outside.

She couldn't shake the feeling of something going on. Something that involved Kane and Ark. When class ended, Delilah walked out rather abruptly, causing Rachel to have to run after her. When Rachel had caught up with her, she had to literally grab her arm and pull her to stop her. "Hey," Rachel said gently. "What's the matter?"

Delilah didn't know how to answer. She shook her head, staring at the ground, trying to figure out what to tell her best friend. Then she looked up, meeting Rachel's green eyes. "It's Kane and Ark."

"What?" She frowned a little, lowering her voice, so no one else would hear.

"Something's happening with them. I can feel it."

Rachel stared at her friend for a long time, before just nodding and swallowing. "Okay, I understand."

"What do we do?"

They were both silent. Truth was, they didn't_ know _what to do. She felt a jab of pain shoot through her heart. Something wasn't right. And they both knew it. But they couldn't do anything about it. All they could do was hope that the two were okay.

_Guys_, Rachel and Delilah both thought, _be careful_.

* * *

><p>It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.<p>

But when it had, I knew we weren't in the same place as we were last night. In our bed. No, we were in somewhere completely different. I tried to move my hand, but it was held down by something. My hands were tied behind my back? I swallowed and looked next to me. Kane was knocked out beside me.

"Kane?" I called to him. But he wouldn't answer.

"Ah, you're finally awake."


	4. Rescued

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 4:

Rescued

_I fell to the ground, feeling my face being burned from the gravel scratching at my face. I struggled to push myself back up. I looked over my shoulder at my opponent. He was a year older than me and looked like he wasn't all too merciful. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself. What a sicko._

_ Blackjack sighed, trudging into the circle. He looked down at me, he looked disappointed. "Training's over for today, kids. Everyone head down to the Chambers. Darkor wanted to see you." He ordered. Everyone scattered to go down into the Chambers. _

_ I stood up, dusting myself off and rubbing my arms from the gravel scraping into my skin. I turned and went to follow my classmates, but felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Blackjack, who was giving me a harsh look. "You stay."_

_ "Sir?" I frowned slightly._

_ He looked up at my brother, who was still standing there, waiting for me. "Go on." He ordered. "You don't need to be here."_

_ "Ah," he looked at me. I just nodded. I trusted Blackjack and we couldn't deny him anyway. So he just nodded back, unsure still. And turned to go with our classmates. _

_ Blackjack looked back down at me. I looked back at him as well. His eyes were full of disappointment. He shook his head, and released my shoulder, walking over to a wrack of weapons. He scanned through them tediously, trailing his finger over the blades. "You know," he began, making me jump slightly. "When I first began as a Knight, I was much like you."_

_ I wasn't sure if I was allowed to speak, so I kept my lips sealed until he gave me permission. _

_ "I always failed." He never looked at me as he scanned through the variety of weapons. "I never got any of my tests back in a good grade. No matter how hard I tried." He stopped a sword that was hanging on a wall. He reached up slowly, when his hand clasped the sword, and he brought it down, I noticed he had a change of mood. "But," he turned back to me, holding the sword in both hands. "I found that if there's something you truly yearn for, fighting for it becomes much easier."_

_ He walked toward me, holding the large blade in his hands. He bent down in front of me, holding out the blade. "When you are old enough, you will take the blade and be a Knight." He looked at me, for the first time, with soft eyes. "But just remember… there's always something better waiting for you." His words never made any sense to me. "Something that is even better that is offered to you here."_

_ "Like what?"_

_ He smiled. "You'll just have to find out for yourself."_

* * *

><p>"Who are you?" I whispered, toward the dark. Trying to see who was standing in the dark and blending so well.<p>

The darkness unraveled the person beyond my sight. And when she stepped into the single light source above our heads, my eyes narrowed. Her smile was unnerving. "Eve." I growled up at her, struggling against the bonds again.

"Hello, my old friend." She was wearing that dark black armor that I recognized all too well. She had a mark on her forehead to signify her important in the House of the Dead. She had a black sword at her hip. Much like everyone else's. But the gem at the handle of the sword told me that she was not like the other Knights.

"Seems you've rocketed through the rankings." I said, trying to keep my voice from breaking.

"Yes," she glowed with pride when she smiled. "After Kane and you had escaped the Void. I was finally able to get my rightful place. You two were always a thorn in my side, you know?"

"That's a lie. You always came to us whenever you were troubled." I tried to counter back with. "You always said that you needed our help."

She sneered, moving her tongue over her bottom lip. "I'll admit, when I was young, I admired you. You were my role model. The teachers took a liking to you instantly. And Kane was always a little ahead of you as well. But you were always so much easier to approach." She walked toward me, as she got closer, I noticed that the Knight roll has taken over. Her hair, which was once a blonde color, was now a dark black. And her eyes were dark brown, almost red. Her skin was pale.

She looked down at me. Her hand came under my chin and lifted my head up to look at her. "I was in love with you." Her smile looked soft. But her eyes were cold. "I wanted nothing more than to be by your side. I wanted to hold your hand, I wanted to kiss you, hold you." She fell to her knees, she leaned closer to me. I felt her face right in front of mine. I couldn't move away, she held my face so I couldn't do anything. When her lips were just about to touch my own, she moved away again.

The expression on my face must have made her laugh. "Aw, what's wrong? Expecting a kiss?" She moved further away from me. "Yes, I still admire you. I still harbor strong feelings for you. Which is why I _will_ bring you back." She stood up from the floor once more. She looked down at me, with only her eyes. "You are my forbidden love."

"You're twisted." I growled back at her.

She only smiled again. "I know." She looked at Kane, who still seemed to be unconscious. "Although, my lord doesn't want you back just yet. He says that there is an even greater punishment." She licked her bottom lip. She seemed troubled about something. "He says that being chased down by his puppies aren't enough. He has greater plans for you."

"You can't be serious, Eve!" I tugged on the shackles, trying to get to her._ I have to see if I can change her mind. She was never like this before_. "Think here! Hades stole you from your family! You told me about your nightmares. You told me you'd do anything to see them again."

She nodded, like she was agreeing with what I was saying. "Yes. I had many nightmares about my parents. But sacrafices must be made in order to achieve greatness." She clenched a fist and lifted it up so it was close to her face. "And I have achieved it."

"You're mad!"

She ignores my comment and turned away from me. "Do you want to know why I stopped talking to you back then?" When I didn't answer, she said. "I knew your heart was destined to be with someone else. I will let you feel that love and then… I'll tear it apart."

* * *

><p>It was like I woke up from a dream. A bad one.<p>

But I knew it wasn't a dream. There were clear marks on my wrists from the bonds that were around my arms. I sat up from the blob of blankets and looked around the room, but I couldn't find Kane. I stood up and felt like my body weighed ten times more than it actually did and collapsed. I landed on my knee. I gritted my teeth, gathering my strength and grabbing the desk that was in the center of the room. I gripped it hard and managed to pull myself to my feet.

"Kane!" I call, but my voice is hoarse. I push myself to my feet once more and manage to stumble over to the doorway. I pull the door open and found him. He was pulling himself down the steps, on his stomach. I stumbled over to him quickly, every second I kept slipping and falling back to the floor. When I finally made it to the top of the steps, I reached my hand out to grab him. "Kane."

He looked back at me, just barely keeping himself from falling down the many steps. "Ark." He sounded breathless and his voice was hoarse as well.

"What are you doing?" I tried to ask.

"I… need to go get help." He told me. "There's something wrong with us. I can't move very well."

"Neither can I." I admitted. I pulled myself over the edge and tumbled down, next to him. When I was next to him, I felt myself falling forward a little. Kane grabbed me. "Ark!" He shouted, but it was too late. We were both falling down the steps. Loud bangs and groans and grunts of pain could be heard. When we finally stopped, I realized that it didn't hurt as bad as I thought.

I looked over at Kane. He was struggling to pick his head up. He looked over at me, his blue eyes were gleaming with fright suddenly. "Ark!"

I frowned at him, not understanding what was wrong. Then I looked to my right. And realized what had happened. There was a board of nails waiting for me a the bottom of the steps, the nails were sticking up. And rusty. And they were right in my arm. But for some reason, the pain didn't register.

I think this what they call shock.

I'll admit, in all my days of being a Knight and even being chased down by Hellhounds, I've never been quite injured to the point of having to go anywhere to get it checked on. I've been beat around, I've been cut, I've been thrown and tossed. But I've never, ever bled to the point where my arm was beginning to get cold.

"Ark!" Kane yells again, causing me to look back at him calmly. He desperately crawls over to me. When he was right next to me, he pushes himself up with all his might and sits next to my laying body. "Stay awake, you hear me? You understand? Don't close your eyes!"

This was something that seemed to tempting. I knew I shouldn't. I've been told by Blackjack in class that when we are in a fight and if we happened to be harmed, then whatever happens, we must never, ever fall asleep. Because there is a risk that we won't wake back up.

That's when I felt the warm feeling pass over my skin. I looked back at my arm and saw a scarlet liquid spilling down my pale arm, filling my palm and reaching my shirt. The nails were slightly poking out of my arm. That's when the pain began to come. It came like a burst of electricity. Sudden and jolting. It caused me to sit up so quickly that it made it hurt even more.

I cried out as the weight of the board pressed against the wounds. Three large nails, all falling in one straight line, down my arm. I slumped when the pain gave me a shock. Kane caught me before I could fall and held me there. "Stay still." He whispered, stroking my hair. "Shh… it'll be okay. I promise." His voice was breaking. I could tell he was… crying.

I pushed myself to look up at him. Those warm, salty droplets falling down his face. His eyes were squeezed shut so tightly, it made his teeth grit. There was only one time that Kane has ever cried that I can remember…

"I have to go get help." He choked out. His body was trembling underneath me. His eyes opened and he began to look around the place. "Hello!?" He shouted loudly, his chest vibrated under my cheek. "Anyone! PLEASE! I need help!"

Just then, we heard a can roll as someone had kicked it. And a woman appeared. She was an older women. Maybe in her fifty's. She looked worn and tired, but came running when she saw the horrific sight. She skidded to a stop on her knees on the other side of me. "Oh, my goodness!" She gasped, looking closer at the three bolts pressing through my arm. "What in the world happened?"

Kane hugged me tighter, rocking me slightly. His cheek pressed into my hair as he wept. "We fell down the stairs and she…" his voice trailed. His body trembled again. "We can't move very well. Miss, please! You have to help!"

She nodded. "You are in no shape to be running to anywhere, however." She eyed him and gave him a motherly look of concern. "I'll come back with some medical help. Just keep her awake and don't move her."

Kane nodded hastily.

The women rose from the floor and ran out quickly, leaving Kane and I there alone. Kane cried quiet loudly, sniffling and wiping his nose on his sleeve. He shook underneath me, while rocking me back and forth. He kept kissing my head. "It's okay." He whispered to me. But I think it was more to him than me.

"K-Kane…" I managed a hoarse whisper. He stopped rocking so he could listen. "If I don't make it… then you need to go."

"Don't say that!" His voice was quivering. I felt bad for doing this to him. I know he hated it whenever I almost got killed during training or in missions. We both were protective of each other. We were all that we had. "I won't let you die!"

I pushed off of him to look at his eyes. I managed to smile, even though I was in a great deal of pain. My arm was swirling with feeling the mixture of both warm and cold feelings. "Make sure Delilah and Rachel stay safe, if I don't come back."

"You will!"

There was a lot of blood now. It had soaked the floor of where I was just laying. Surely, the cut couldn't have been this bad, could it? What in the world was causing me to bleed so much? And then it struck me.

Something like this happened to a classmate of mine. A prank was pulled on him. A cruel and awful one, but a prank nonetheless. A group of bullies wanted to make a nerdy kid, who just joined the Dorm building to be late to class so his teacher would chew him out. So they stuck a little pin in his lower leg. The pin was shaped like a normal sewing needle. Except, it was much tinier. So you could actually push it all the way in. The pin was traced with a weird liquid on the end.

Turns out, the liquid was like a tranquilizer. But what they didn't know is that the liquid could also kill someone slowly by pushing blood from every opening of the body. When he came running out, he was bleeding all over. Forcing its ways through the skin, bursting open. The bullies were severely punished, by Hades himself. Ever since then, they were three serious kids.

_Could it be…?_ I thought, looking at all the blood. That was a paralyze poison. It's very strong, but takes a while for the affects to take place. It is quite possible that this has happened also. Damn. If it is, then I have less time than I thought.

But there's still a chance that it isn't. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't. But as if luck had a personal vendetta with me, I saw another droplet of scarlet drop onto my arm. The one that wasn't impaled at the moment.

I lifted it up and touched under my nose, analyzing my fingers. Sure enough, there was blood.

Kane didn't see this, however. I didn't want him to. I wiped my nose and hid my arm. I turned to him. _If I knew where she injected me, I could_… before I could process a plan, I watched as a red tear slipped down Kane's cheek. My eyes widened and all feeling of sleepiness drifted away. "Kane!" I croaked.

He opened his eyes in surprise. "What's the matter?" He asked, even though his voice was shaking like it was going to snap.

"You're bleeding out of… your eyes."

He lifted one hand and touched his cheek. He looked at his hand and his own eyes widened. "What is this?"

"The pin needle." I growled. "This was Eve."

"Eve?" He sounded actually shocked to hear this. I'm sure he was never guessing it either. "No way."

"I saw her last night. I thought it was a dream at first, but there are bruises on our wrists. And judging from the pin needles, I have no doubt."

"Damn it." He snapped under his breath. He looked around quickly. "I'll find her."

I felt another droplet of blood trickle from my nose and touch the edge of my lips. I opened my mouth to say something, but my words turned into gurgles. Kane turned me over and I coughed, a red splatter dashed across the cold, concrete floor. I gasped when I could breath again. My hand trembled with pain when I had to maneuver myself around it.

"Just a little longer." He promised, rubbing my back. He sounded a little calmer. "Please, hurry." I heard him whisper.

Another cough and more blood came squirting out. My nose wasn't taking a day off either. I sat back, leaning against Kane. He held me tightly, looking down at the board that was still attached to my arm. "I won't let you die." He whispered, kissing my head again. "It's a promise."

It wasn't long before we were both hacking up and wheezing. He had to turn his head away every five seconds, while I was doing it nonstop. The blood got on my shirt, I didn't bother trying to turn away now, I was already smothered in it. Kane's red tears dripped from his face as he watched our lives begin to slip away. Kane's hands were cold now. I could tell we were both losing far too much blood.

Kane was going limp beneath me. He sat back against the wall. I gasped for air, as I leaned my head back against him. "I don't think we're gonna make it this time."

"No, we'll make it. We have to." His voice was still thick with hoarse. "Our efforts couldn't have been for nothing."

Just as I was about to give in to the sleepy grip of death, I heard a loud bang and the woman from before rushing inside, with two men in white following. "See!" She shouted, pointing at the bloody mess that we were. "I told you I wasn't crazy!"

The two men quickly ran to us. One saw the injury on my arm and lifted me up cautiously, careful not to disturb it too much. And then the other looked at the distraunt and weak brother of mine. "He's losing blood. But… there are no wounds." He lifted Kane up so his arm was around his shoulder and they were carrying us to the door.

"Where are your parents? What're their names?" The man asked me, even though I was slipping in and out of consciousness. "Hey! Stay with me!"

"Delilah." I don't know why I said it. It was just the first name that came to mind. "Delilah Fortune. Rachel… Grove…"

"Huh?" He asked as he ran toward the ambulance down the road. "Who are they?"

I didn't have time to reply, because I felt my eyes close and my body give into the sleep.

* * *

><p>Delilah was dodging red dodge balls, jumping, twisting and diving like a pro. People were actually getting <em>pissed<em> at her. Even her team. She should be trying to get them back in, but to hell with it, they were all pricks anyways. Rachel wasn't here, so she had no reason to try in this class.

She grinned when the leader, a prissy little princess in pink shorts walked up front. She glared at Delilah across the gym. "Do something instead of smirk, would you?"

"Nah." She shrugged and stretched, watching as one of the members of her team tried to be sneaky. A glint in her eye caught the attention of Ms. Priss and she glared at the boy, but it was too late. He shot the ball at her. Delilah simply jumped over it with much strength and much skill. She was once part of the track and field team, working on the high jump. Needless to say, higher jumps were kinda her thing.

_Okay_, she admitted quietly to herself. _I didn't actually _need_ to jump there, but I wanted to make Ms. Priss mad again_. She smirked at herself. "Oh, yeah!" She cheered, thrusting her fist and then holding up a hand to herself. "Who's da man?!" She gave herself a high five and began to dance around the room, then stuck out her tongue at Ms. Priss. "Come get me!"

She could practically see the smoke rising from her ears and the red face glow with rage. She looked at her team. "Everyone fire at once!"

They all nodded, grabbing a spare ball from the floor and bringing the balls back to throw them. Apparently, pretty hard too.

Delilah got into her "fighter stance". Although, she looked more like a nerd that watched too much anime. But she didn't care. She waited for the attack to come.

"Three!" Ms. Priss shouted, holding her hand up to let them know when to release. "Two!" Everyones arms tensed as they waited for the final number.

"DELILAH!" A voice screeched from the doorway of the gym. She jumped and spun around. She was shocked to see the principal of the school, gasping and looking like she was urgent. She always had such a cool and calm aura about her. "You have to come with me, right _now_!"

She spotted Rachel behind the principal. She felt happy for one second. _Finally, someone I don't wanna strangle!_ She thought as she jogged over to them. But she lost her smile when she saw that Rachel was crying. She held her face in her hands and sniffled. Delilah ran over to her friend, resting her hands on her shoulders. She looked over at the principal. "What the hell is going on?!" She didn't even mind her language.

And the principal didn't seem to mind. She just said. "Do you know who Kane Gothard and Ark Gothard are?"

Delilah heart sank. She knew something was up. "Yeah. Why? What happened?"

"They're at the hospital right now." She told Delilah, sounding like she was trying to be delicate in the way she told her. "They're alive, but…"

"But what?" She demanded.

"They're in critical condition." She informed her. "You two should head to the hospital to make sure they're okay."

Delilah grasped Rachel's hand and ran toward the exit, without even remembering she was in her gym clothes.

* * *

><p>Delilah burst through the doors of the hospital, Rachel was now in the same state of mind she was in as well. So they were both frantic. They ran to the receptionist, behind the counter. She looked startled when Delilah slammed her hand on the surface. "Ark and Kane! Where are they?" She yelled, calling the attention of just about everyone in the waiting room.<p>

"T-the Gothards?" She looked frightened, her eyes were gleaming with fear when she sat back in her chair to get away from Delilah.

Delilah nodded.

"They're in room four-o-six." She told her, pointing at the elevator. "Fourth floor."

Delilah and Rachel exchanged looks and headed toward the elevator.

"Ah! You can't go up there without written permission!" The receptionist called back to them as they made their way to the elevator.

Delilah turned to the women, to tell her off. But Rachel took the lead for her. She flipped her off and said. "Is this written enough permission?!" She growled and when the door opened, they both stepped inside and clicked the button.

Delilah would have slapped Rachel on the back and said: _That's my girl!_ But now was definitely not the time. They waited impatiently, counting down in their heads until the fourth floor. When they heard the high pitched "_DING!_" and the door open, it wasn't even fully open before Rachel was slipping through the crack. Delilah followed after her quickly.

The searched the room numbers quickly. _No, no, no, no_… they both thought, as they caught the attention of many doctors and nurses. And then they saw the door. Like a light beam was hitting it. Like there was only the door and them. It's what it felt like.

They rushed toward the door, pulling the knob open and then pushing. They spotted two nurses sliding their beds into place. They both stopped when they heard the bang and looked to see who it was. Their eyes widened.

When they caught sight of Ark and Kane, unconscious, bandaged and bruised, they felt like they were going to scream. Rachel for different reasons than Delilah.

Kane had many stains on his face. Red stains. He had dark circles under his eyes and it looked like he had lost way too much weight in his face. He had a large bruise on his forehead and a stitch on his finger.

Then there was Ark. With a huge bandage on her left arm. And a bruise on the bridge of her nose. She also had stains on her face as well as Kane. She also had that same skeleton look to her and the dark circles.

Rachel ran to Kane's side. Delilah knew she cared for Ark, but she also knew she harbored feelings for Kane. "What's wrong with them?" She asked, through tears.

Delilah went over to Ark's beside and looked at her arm. "What the hell?" She was angry. She didn't know who she was angry at or why, but she was fucking pissed. "What is going on?!"

"Who are you?" One of the nurses asked in a nervous voice.

"We're Rachel and Delilah." Rachel said, but she never took her eyes off of Kane's skinny face. "We got a call today."

"_You_ two are?" They sounded surprised. "We were expecting… adults."

"Answer my damn question!" Delilah spun around to the nurses. "What is going on?"

"We aren't obliged to tell you." One of the nurses said, giving Delilah a glare. "We don't even know if you two are who you say you are."

"Of course we are!" They both snapped at the nurses.

"Until you show us your ID's, we're going to have to ask you to–"

"They're the right ones, all right." A man came into the room. Instanly, Delilah had gotten the same feeling as she got from Ark and Kane. His hair was black and curly. His eyes were dark and his skin was pale. He had a doctor's coat on and a pair of glasses hung at the end of of his long nose. He pushed it up and smirked at the nurses.

They swooned and went over to him. "Doctor Corpus!"

He chuckled and patted their heads, he was very tall. They gleamed and Delilah swore, if they were dogs, their tails would be wagging right about now. He shifted his gaze to Delilah, who was still standing in front of Ark's bed. His smile never faltered as he made his way towards the girl. When he was close, he wrapped an arm around Delilah and pulled her close. "Hello, my dear." His voice was smooth and probably could make Delilah fall for him. If she wasn't an idiot.

"Back off, old perv." She stomped on his foot, causing him release her and jump up and down, grasping his foot. He made "OW! OOH!" sounds as he jumped. When he stopped, he looked up at her, with a smile. Not exactly what she was hoping for.

"My, my." He looked back at the nurses. "You may go. I'll take care of the patients." They both nodded, but looked disappointed to leave behind the creepy weirdo.

"So you two know Ark and Kane, eh?" He kicked his leg like he had a locked joint and then sighed, resting it back on the ground. "Then I suppose you know about _them_."

Rachel and Delilah knew all right. But what they didn't know. Is who the hell is he? And how does _he_ know?

He walked over to Ark's bed. He extended a hand to touch Ark, but Delilah put an arm over Ark. "What are you doing?" She demanded.

His smile was unnerving. "Calm yourself. I _am_ a doctor." He shooed her away and touched her forehead. He closed his eyes and when they reopened, Delilah saw that his eyes were glowing and they turned into a weird golden color. Ark gasped and arched her back.

Delilah almost tried to push the doc off, before he said. "I see." And released. She plopped back into the bed and continued to sleep, without waking. He blinked and his eyes turned back. He straightened his white doctors coat. "Seems there's a… pin needle stuck in Ark. And I'm willing to bet Kane too."

"What's a pin needle?"

He brought his pointer finger and his thumb close together, but not touching. "A little object. So tiny that it's very easy to lose and even easier to miss." He explained as he made his way back to the spot in between the bed. "Assassins of Hades use them to… take care of things. If you get my drift."

"Assassins of who?" Rachel asked.

"Hades." He said it so calmly, like it was an obvious thing. "You know, lord of the dead?" He rolled his eyes when they still seemed clueless. "Okay, I'm guessing these two didn't tell you guys _everything_." He touched his temple with his finger. "Makes more of an effort on _my_ part." He muttered, before continuing before they could get a chance to hear it. "Anyway, back to the pin needle. The pin needle is a very small needle, but very deadly. It knocks someone out and causes them to… become rigid. They are able to move, but not well. So it makes it so they aren't able to struggle. And then they bleed."

"Bleed?" Delilah thought he was rather vague the way he just said, "bleed". "Where? From the wound? From the inside? Where?"

"Everywhere." He said simply. "Most of the time, the bleeding takes place in the eyes, nose and mouth. They cough and their blood spatters, they begin to cry, even if they're not sad. Their tears could be bloody. And their nose starts too."

"So you're saying they bled for no reason?" Rachel sounded sick.

"Precisely!" His eyes gleamed when they finally understood, which they did _not_ appreciate. "Also," he looked at Ark's bandage. "Seems in the struggle, from the reports I've gathered, they fell down the steps and Ark was punctured. Rusty nails aren't a good thing." He chuckled, he was _far_ too calm. "And if we don't get those nails out, they could puncture an artery. Or even worse, the heart."

"Then you have to get them out!" Rachel nearly yelled at the Pervy Doc.

"I would, however," he paused and turned back to the two girls standing before him. "There is a price. A high price. And I don't think you'll be able to cover it. And from my reports, they were living in an old warehouse at the time. So I don't think _they_ will either."

Delilah lunged forward, ready to pound this dickhead in, when they heard the door open again and everyone turned to look. And a girl stood there. She wore a pleasant smile, her black hair was braided down her back. When she stepped inside, they felt the cold burst of air hit them. Even the Pervy Doc looked a little worried.

The girl was carrying a box in her hands. She stepped next to the group of people, still smiling. "Hello." Her voice was snake-like and it sent shivers down everyones spine. "I'm here to help." She said and held out the box to the doctor. "I think this'll suffice." Then she turned to walk out of the door, when she said. "Oh, yes!" She looked over her shoulder. "When Kane and Ark awaken, let them know that _Eve_ paid them a visit." And then she left.

It took a while for them to go back into focus. The Pervy Doc looked at the box on his lap. He hesitantly reached for the tape and ripped it off quickly and easily. He pulled the flaps open and when he did, his eyes widened. "Eve, what're you up to?" He muttered and then reached inside. Pulling out a stack of hundreds. He flipped through them quickly and showed them to Rachel and Delilah. "There are more." He began to pull bundle, after bundle, of dollar bills.

Delilah was wide-eyed. She had no idea what to say. "W-will this cover their surgery?" Rachel asked, hope rising in her voice.

"Certainly." He said, but sounded troubled, not particularly happy about it. "Ark and Kane are quite old friends of mine. So I will preform the surgery myself." And with that, the Pervy Doc left.

When my eyes opened again, I felt very cold. I was shivering actually. I looked at the window to see if it was open. And it wasn't. And then I noticed that I was in a bed, an actual bed. And I wasn't surrounded by trash. I turned my head and saw Kane in a bed next to me. He was still asleep. But he was breathing and it seems his bloody mesh has been taken care of. Thank god. That was a nightmare I didn't care to revisit.

"Assassins." A deep voice said from the corner. I snapped my head around, jolted awake by the voice. Someone was standing in the shadow of the corner. It was nighttime by now and far too dark in the room for me to tell who it was. "They are troublesome, aren't they?"

"Who are you?" I hissed at the shadow, ready to jump out of my bed and defend my brother at any second.

He just chuckled. "Calm yourself, Ark. You haven't changed at all." And then he stepped into the moonlight.

My entire body relaxed and I smiled widely. "Nova!"

He smirked and walked toward me. Until he was standing right over me. "How are you feeling?"

I looked at my bandaged arm. "Been better." I said honestly.

"I would think." He looked over at Kane, who was still sleeping soundly. "I'm surprised."

"By what?"

"Are you out here… on a mission?" He asked me, raising a brow.

I paused for a moment. "No. Kane and I… left."

"Left." He repeated the word and fixed his glasses. Nova was the very first person to ever leave the Void and not die right away. He was the best doctor in the Void and specialized in weapons. And poisons. I only met him a few times in my lifetime as a child. He was nice to me, although he seemed rather mischievous. "I see." He cleared his throat. "So that makes sense why he…" his voice trailed.

"Why he?" I asked, arching my eyebrow and going to sit up, but immediately regretting it because I felt the sharp pain in my arm.

Nova spun around and gave me a look like, "you idiot!" and jumped over the bed, literally, jumped over it, and grasped my arm and straightened it out again. I winced when he moved it, but it felt better after. "You mustn't move it. And keep it in this position."

"R-right." I said, relaxing my shoulder a bit.

"Eve came by." He said suddenly, making me glare at him. Not at him, but just by what he said. "I'm guessing this is_ her_ doing."

I nodded, even though it wasn't a question.

He shook his head again, like he was disappointed in her. He crossed his arms over his white coat. I could see the tattoo on the back of his hand. The oath of the Docs. "That girl… I knew she was trouble. But to use such a… trinket is going too far." He turned his dark eyes to me. His eyes were red at night and then blue during the day. "You _do_ know, don't you?"

"Know what?"

His face cringed. "You've been injected with a pin needle."

"I could piece that together, but what's the big deal? I didn't, you know, die of bloodloss or anything."

"Yes, that may be so. However, the pin needle is still lethal." He told me. "That's how the Assassins work. If the victim would be so lucky as to avoid dying of the poison, then the needle itself will kill you if you keep it in there." He sighed. "It'll puncture an artery." He paused for a long time, then walked over to the chair in between the beds. He bent over and picked up a cardboard box. He walked back to me and said. "Also, there's this."

The box opened and I looked inside. My eyes widened. "What the fuck is that?" Excuse my french.

"Eve dropped it off." He told me, sounding a little angry. I knew he didn't like Eve. Even when we were kids, he said there was always something about her. Guess this was that something. "I told your friends about the operation and then she just came busting in, dropped off the box, told me to let you two know that she dropped by and left." He sighed, looking like he was hating to admit what he was about to say. "But it'll definitely… cover your operation to get the pin needle out."

"You'd charge us?!" I was in completely disbelief. "How cruel!"

He shrugged. "I have a house I need to take care of." He chuckled and then set the box back on the seat. "By the way, speaking of houses, where the hell are _you_ two staying?"

"Oh, you know, places." I waved my hand at him like it was no big deal.

"After this operation. I'll allow Kane and you to stay at my home for a while." He smiled when he saw the look on my face. "We three are fugitives to Hades, are we not?"

I nodded.

Once the operation was complete, and we were released, Kane hugged me furiously. We couldn't see each other since the operation took a while and well, we were both in recovery at the time. So we couldn't really see each other much. Plus, Nova said it'd be a good idea to keep us in opposite parts of the hospital. So that way we were all clustered in one area, attracting attention to Hades' Hounds.

I hugged Kane back and we stood there, on the sidewalk for a while. "I got another scar." He said, when he kissed my head.

I laughed a little. "Same here."

Nova stepped out of the hospital and walked over to us, greeting the two of us with smiles. He stood taller than both of us. "So are you two ready? Ready to sleep in a warm bed?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Kane said.

"And no nails, please." I said, jokingly.

We got into Nova's black car, of course. What is it with us people and color black? Anyway, we took off. The drive took us down the road, just out of town, and further into the woods. When we came to a stop, I poked my head out the window and my eyes widened. "Holy freaking crap! Nova! You're rich!"

"I am a Doctor. I've been a Doctor for three hundred years." He showed off the tattoo on his hand. "Immortality's a bitch."

"Not to you." Kane leaned forward, looking out the wind shield at the large, black and white house perched upon the hill. "I'm surprised the Hounds haven't found you here yet."

He smirked. Then he pointed at the trees. "See them?" He asked us.

We looked and then nodded.

"Those are oak trees," he paused to pull the car into the garage, the door shut automatically when we were inside. "Hounds can't smell us since the sap is so strong, so we're safe as long as we're around here." He winked. "Found that little piece of advice to be _very_ useful."

"Yeah, remind me to plant more trees whenever we stay the night somewhere." Kane chuckled as he got out of the car. He looked across the hood at Nova. "How many oaks are around here?"

He flicked on the lights in the garage, revealing three more expensive looking cars. I got out and admired the blue one at the end. I listened to the two of them talking, while I marveled at how shiny it was. "Look! I can see my reflection!" I knew they weren't listening, so I just said it to myself, really. I made faces in the hood of the car.

"I go out and plant new trees every week. That way when ones die or get chopped down, those ones will grow." He frowned a little. "I try to stop people from chopping them down. People tend to think I'm a… tree-lover. I think that's what got my reputation so high at the hospital."

"A tree-lover?" Kane laughed at that. "Why would that increase your popularity?"

He shrugged. "Dunno." He admitted and walked up the steps, toward the exit of the garage. "But the ladies like a man with a big heart." He winked. "Although, looks like you're doing pretty good already." He stepped inside.

"What?" Kane asked.

I chuckled, because I knew what he was talking about. Kane turned to me and glared. "What?" He demanded and frowning when I just laughed again.

"Come on in!" Nova called from inside.

I walked calmly next to Kane. I bent over and whispered. "You should be more vigilant to those around you and you'll understand." Then I stepped inside, hearing Kane say one more "What?" behind me. I laughed.

"You can stay in here, Ark." Nova said, opening the door for me. I stepped inside and looked around the room. A plain room, a bed with a dresser and a closet and a desk with a chair in front of it. I smirked. _With some adjustments, I can make this into my leir!_ I thought giddily.

Nova went to show Kane where he'd be staying. I heard the door next to mine open. I smiled. Good. I don't want to be too far from him.

But it wasn't long before Nova came back into my room and said. "Ark, I want you to attend school."

I was shocked by this and looked at him. "School?" I arched my brow at him in surprise. "What for?"

"Look," he sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm not used to doing stuff like this. Plus, I know the position you two are in. Escaping, being hunted down, almost dying, and ending up homeless in the end." He got a distant look in his eyes. "You think you can't have a normal life. And it's true, you will not ever have a completely normal life. However, what you can have is a happy one." He directed his look back at me, giving me a smile. "I got a new start. I got a job as a Doctor, a beautiful house, a fortress to protect me in. I always liked you two, so I am offering you a place in my home to stay." He told me. "If you go to school, then you can get a career and meet someone."

I felt my eyes get teary suddenly. A normal life? That's what I want. I've always wanted to go to a normal school, I always wanted to make friends that were normal. Meet someone that I absolutely love and then eventually grow old and die. "All right." I wiped my eyes so the tears won't come. "We'll start school as soon as we can."

He nodded and then I heard Kane's rushing footsteps toward the room. He came into the doorway, holding his own sword. I recognized it. There was a chip in the handle from the time he used it against another Knight. There was a keychain of a cat that a small girl gave to him when he saved her from a passing car, hanging off of it. His eyes were shining with joy. "Look!"

I looked at Nova. He grinned and looked at something under the bed. I looked too and saw a case underneath. I swallowed and went over to it, bending down and pulling it out.

I unclicked the locks and pulled it open. There it was. My sword. The one that Blackjack gave me that day. The one that I named Tundra. For my first mission. With an actual sword. I lifted it out of the box and lifted it up, extending it out and slashing at the air. I looked over at Kane. He was smiling. I smiled back.

It felt great to have Tundra in my hand again. It was just how I remembered it to be. Nice and light, but gave just enough weight to it. I looked over at Nova. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me." He lifted his hands as if he were surrendering. "Blackjack came here about three weeks ago. Said that he needed me to take these and hide them somewhere. He also told me to tell you that he'd be back soon. He managed to escape the Void as well. Although, he's allowed to walk in this world, without being hunted, it depends what he does that'll define his… sentence."

_This was a good day_. For once in a long time, looks like things are finally beginning to look up.

"Oh, yes." He snapped his fingers. "Tomorrow, I'm going to enroll you into that school in town. And before that." He looked us both up and down. "I'm going to get you some new clothes. Now go take a shower! You stink!"

**Well, there's that. **

** By the way, I apologize for all the wait for the last Chapter. School gets in the way quite a bit. :P I'll try to write as much as I can so that way it won't be so long this time. I hope you're not angry. **

** Thanks for reading, have a nice day, bub-bye! **

**-ComicalFace**


	5. School

Hades' Knights

Chapter 5:

School

_At tweleve-years-old, we went into our Advanced Class. Blackjack was still our teacher. The Advanced Class was to show us how to duel. Using actual weapons. At first, it was hard. We weren't used to carrying real life weapons that could hurt someone. And now, we were very nervous. _

_ The Advanced Class focuses on the difficulties of missions. Like if we would need to sleep on a bed of nails, then so be it. If we need to eat a box of rocks, oh well. And if we need to kill our fellow Knight, then I guess we just have to. Rurik was in a different class than us. But we had another friend, who was a year older. And he was experienced with this class. While we were at lunch, sitting by the window to watch the snow falling from the blank sky, he said: "Okay, you two." He began, digging into his food. "The first step in taking the Advanced Class is to always remember one thing."_

_ "And that is?" Kane asked, impatiently as he sipped from his straw. _

_ "It can always get worse." He pointed at him and chewed. He set the burger down and wiped his hands off on his uniform pants. "If you want it to get better, then you have to be prepared to do the worst."_

_ "Like what?" I asked this time, even though my mouth was full. _

_ "Well, say one of your friends tries to betray you during a mission." He explained. He took one more sip from his drink before continuing. "If that happens, then you have to kill them. Hades won't be mad, as long as you don't kill 'em for no reason."_

_ "I couldn't kill my own teammate." I whispered, now not very interested in my food now that that visual entered my mind. "That's just too impossible for me."_

_ "Well, then you'll die." He told us. Taurus licked his bottom lip. "One things for sure, when you're on a mission, nothing else matters. You understand? You don't worry about your family, your friends. You only worry about the mission." _

_ After class, I confronted Blackjack about what Taurus had told us about missions. When I was finished, he just looked annoyed. "That moron doesn't know the first thing about it." He told me. Blackjack and I seemed to have had a better relationship now. Kane was always bonding with the students. And giving the teachers trouble. While I sat in Blackjack's classroom and talked with him. _

_ "So he was wrong?" I asked. _

_ "Well, he was right about the mission matters the most. However, leaving behind your teammate or killing them is out of the question." He looked up at me from his desk. "What do you think, Ark?"_

_ "I'm not sure." I admitted. "I think I'm still too soft to be a Knight."_

_ He smiled. "It's called having a heart, Ark." _

_ "I still feel like I'm not cut out for this."_

_ "If you weren't, I wouldn't have put so much effort into training you." He told me. He laced his fingers on the desk. "You and Kane both."_

_ "But everyones better than us."_

_ "__That may be so, __but you've only just begun."_

* * *

><p>I jumped back, away from from Kane.<p>

He lifted the wooden spear up, like it was his sword and swung at me. I lifted my own and blocked the hit, hearing a loud wooden thunk as we did. He grinned at me, but his shoulders were trembling, trying to break through. I smirked back, even though mine were doing the same. I pushed back and we broke apart.

We both jumped back, skidding backwards, leaning down and grabbing the ground to halt us. When we came to a stop, we stood up again and charged. I don't know what happened, but we were both knocked off our feet. When I hit the ground, my wooden staff flew past me, behind me. I lifted my head and saw Kane had done the same.

"All right, you two." Nova came into view. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. He looked normal. His eyes were back to blue. "Come on. We're gonna go get you two some clothes."

I picked up the wooden staff and looked at the suit Nova made us wear. It had padding on it, so if we got hit by the staff, it wouldn't bruise. I unzipped it and stepped out of it. We headed back into the back part of the training gym and put the things away.

"First, though." Nova looked us both up and down. "Go take a shower. You can wear the clothes I picked out for you. I don't want you two going to a store looking sweaty and torn up." He stepped back into the house, leaving us to look at each other.

He was right. We both looked like we got hit by a car and slept under a bridge. Which we have. Sleeping under a bridge, anyway. We headed back inside. Luckily, there were more than one bathrooms, so we didn't have to worry about having to wait.

I walked into the bathroom across the house, away from Kane. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair looks like it was covered in sweat and grease. Hanging on my head like it had no choice. I was sweating from the workout. My arm was still bandaged from my accident. I sighed. "Yep, I look like a trainwreck."

I stripped down and turned on the warmest water. Then I moved in. I felt the water rushing down my face and body, and all the grime and dirt off of me, casting it down the drain. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warm feeling. After I was washed and felt relieved, I got dressed.

The clothes he chose weren't exactly what I would call clothing _I'd_ wear, but it didn't matter. He gave me plain blue jeans and a blue t-shirt. There was a jacket hanging up for me on the hook of the door. Something a little better. A black and white jacket. I slipped it on over the blue t-shirt and looked at myself in the mirror once more.

I looked better.

There was a knock on the door. "Ark, are you almost ready?" Kane called to me. I stepped out of the bathroom and had a look at him. He was wearing the bas ic clothing. Jeans and a t-shirt. He had a jacket on like me. He looked clean and well-kept. But he was in desperate need of a haircut.

We headed down the steps and saw Nova sitting on his black leather couch, arms on the back in a relaxed position. He was waiting for us. When we came into view, he sat up and then stood. "You're ready." He said and then turned to walk into the garage. We followed him out and got into the red car next to the blue one. His black one looked to be more for business matters, his red and blue ones were more… personal needs.

We drove through town, looking up at the tall buildings, and watching people walk on the streets. It hadn't occured to me, but this place _was_ pretty impressive. I guess I was always too busy with surviving that I hadn't ever noticed. Even though we walked these streets about a hundred and one times before. Looking for any kinds of threats or enemies. Oddly enough, we hadn't seen much around here.

"There it is." Nova pointed at the store at the corner of the block, that said: "Marshal's" on it. The doors were glass, so we could see inside. It looked like a wide store, with lots to choose from. People were bustling in and out of the store, carrying bags and things.

"Fancy." Kane said as we all got out. Nova walked around the car and joined Kane and I as we made our way inside. When we came inside, the man behind the desk looked pleased to see us.

Nova waved at him and the man swooned. "Oh! Nova!" He came running to his side, nearly knocking Kane and I down. He looked like he was praying to Nova. "What can I do for my favourite customer?"

"Marshal, it's quite all right. I can handle taking care of my… kids." He said hesitantly and looked over to us as if to ask if we were okay with that.

"I didn't know you had kids!" He began to look all around the store, like he couldn't see us. "Where are they?"

_Oh, my god, dude_. I thought, knowing my annoyance was showing on my face. _Are you an idiot?_

"Ah," Nova saw the look on my face and walked behind Kane and I, resting his hands on both of our shoulders. "These two." He told him. "This is Kane and Ark. My daughter and my son."

The man suddenly looked like we were two prizes that God himself had given him and took my face into his hands. "Oh, my!" He said, and grabbing my cheeks. I growled at him, but he still didn't let go. "Your son is quite adorable!"

Kane held a laugh. I heard him. And Nova just facepalmed. I glared at him and slapped his hands away. Then he moved over to Kane. He grabbed his face next and tugged him. "And your daughter is beautiful!" This time, I was the one that clasped my hands over my mouth to fight the laugh. "Her eyes are so feminine!"

Nova cleared his throat when Kane looked like he was about to knock his teeth from his mouth. "Ah, thank you." He said, pulling both of us back and nodding to Marshal. "Have a nice day, Marshal." And he pushed us into the store further.

"That guy has a lot of nerve to call my eyes feminine." Kane growled, now looking like a grumpy little kid.

"But he's so right, Kane!" I joked with him, nudging his arm. "I mean, sis."

Kane growled at me. "Oh, my manly, so masculine, brother!" He hugged me. "I'm so glad that you're my _brother_."

I shoved him off of me with a laugh. "It doesn't effect me like it does you."

"For real, though." He touched his cheek. His face was red now. "My eyes don't look… feminine, do they?"

Nova chuckled at that. "Well, to be honest, you do have unnaturally long eyelashes for a male."

"Ugh!" Kane grabbed his head with frustration. "So I'm a girl."

I laughed. "Yep. You're now my baby sister."

* * *

><p>"So why are we here again?" Delilah asked as they entered the store. Rachel was busy looking at a list. She needed to get some new clothes for her mom that were on layaway. She didn't want to go alone, so she asked if Delilah could come along. "Not that I don't like to spend time in…" she leaned over to read what the name of it was called again. "Marshall's."<p>

"I need to pick some things up for my Mom." Rachel told her. "I just don't wanna go alone right now." She continued into the shop, hearing Delilah following behind her.

"Why not?" Delilah asked, staring at all the richy people walking through the store with their children. "I mean, this place isn't like some horrible neighborhood or somethin'."

"I-I know, it's just…" her voice trailed and she let her hand drop to her side. "I keep having bad dreams and… haven't you noticed that Ark and Kane haven't been around for a while?"

Delilah tensed up. She had thought about it, she didn't want to, but it happened every now and again. And she'd get a little upset and worried that they had left. They were her key to getting out of this place. And if they'd left, that means she's still stuck here. And that is something I can't stand to think of. "Yeah." Was all she said.

"I just hope that I can at least say goodbye to him." She whispered, but Delilah heard her. "I really hope he didn't leave. And Ark."

"C'mon, we both know you have a crush on Kane." Delilah nudged her with her elbow. "Don't you?"

"N-no I don't!" She was a horrible liar. "I just care about him is all."

"Sure." She grinned and then went back to serious. "When I went to the hospital, the receptionist said that they were already released." Then she recalled that she and Rachel had been not so kind to her the first time they spoke. "Then again, she might have been trying to be a bitch."

"No, I think they left." Rachel said. Delilah saw that her cheeks suddenly were burning red now. "Kane sometimes visits me."

Delilah would have made a joke, but she felt like she was guilty too. Ark comes over sometimes as well. So she has no room, really, to talk. "It just seems so odd." They stepped into the layaway compartment and headed toward the woman at the cash register and the woman standing behind it. "It doesn't seem like they'd just up and leave, without even saying bye."

"Yeah, I agree." Rachel told her what she needed to the lady and handed her her ID. "But still, there's no evidence they're here still. So that means they _must_ have left."

The woman returned with a white plastic bag and handed it over to her. "Here you are." She said. Rachel took it with a smile and handed her the money, then left.

"I still have a hunch that they're hanging around somewhere." Delilah sighed and felt something hit her from behind. She tumbled forward and nearly fell. She glared at whoever was behind her. "You!" She pointed at the Pervy Doc.

He smiled slowly. Which gave Delilah the creeps. "Why hello, my dear." He was carrying a stack of clothes in his arms. He seemed to be walking somewhere. "I didn't see you there. Although, I wish I had."

"Save it, you perve."

"Doctor Corpus. We weren't expecting to see you here." Rachel said, trying to calm Delilah so she wouldn't make a scene and get them kicked out of the store. Her mother would not appreciate it.

"Well," he sighed. "I'm taking care of my kids at the moment." Then he had a sudden look like he just remembered something important. He quickly went back to his cool demeanor. "I think you two should meet them."

"We're kinda busy." Delilah tried to tug Rachel away, but the Pervy Doc was suddenly in front of them again. _This guy__'__s quick_.

"I think you should." He tried again, this time he pushed them forward, toward the changing rooms. Delilah growled under her breath. When they were to the changing rooms, the Pervy Doc let them go and sat himself down at the seat. "My kids will also be going to the barber to get their hair cuts and soon look nice and spiffy. They'll also be going to your school."

"Really?" Rachel actually sounded interested. "They're our age?"

"Yes."

"I can't wait to meet them."

Delilah rolled her eyes and walked over to the clothes hangers nearby. She didn't care much for yoga pants, but she needed some kind of distraction as to not have to meet anyone new. She flipped through them hastily, listening to the Pervy Doc and Rachel speaking about his kids.

"What're they like?" Rachel would say.

Then he'd say: "Oh, they're splendid. Stubborn and troubled, but very well kept."

Rachel: "I hope everythings okay with them."

Pervy Doc: "Oh, yes. They're much better now than then. They were in horrible condition before. You see, I actually took them in myself. They were homeless before."

Rachel again: "Who were their parents?"

Pervy Doc… again: "The mother was beautiful and very sweet. She did everything she could for them. The father walked out on them when they were just three."

Rachel: "That's horrible."

Pervy Doc: "Indeed."

Just then, Delilah heard the doors open. And footsteps coming out. They had come out at the exact same time? Delilah heard Rachel gasp and quickly looked back. She had her eyes on Rachel, so she didn't see who stepped out. But she saw the look on her face and saw the bag that was in her hand was now on the floor next to her feet.

"What's wrong?" She demanded, running over to her.

Rachel only managed to point. Delilah followed her finger over towards the Pervy Doc. And her jaw dropped.

There they both stood. Kane and Ark. Kane was in blue jeans that were torn at the knees. His skin tight shirt exposed his hard chest. And arms. He was built. His old worn out boots were now replaced with red high tops. Which compliments his new look. He looked cleaner as well. His red t-shirt was probably going to give Rachel some serious wet dreams tonight.

Then there was Ark. Which, Delilah hated to admit it, but she was seriously blushing from her new look. She didn't look girly at all. She looked like she had the moves like jagger.

Ark was wearing a black shirt with a hood on it. There was a white trim to it as well. She spotted her skinny jeans, that compliments her ass nicely. (Not that she was looking!) And saw her converse shoes on her feet. Black, of course. She now had a white watch on her wrist, on the arm that wasn't wrapped up from her incident.

Both Rachel and Delilah just stared dumbly at the two. They looked pretty fucking good.

Rachel was obviously drooling over Kane. And then there was Delilah, who was even worse at being subtle about staring at peoples ass's. Which she rarely did. But sometimes, there was always that special ass she just couldn't keep her eyes off of. And she was always painfully obvious about it.

"Wow." Rachel whispered, licking her lips like she saw something delicious. "He looks pretty good, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, she does." Delilah whispered back, still staring at Ark's ass.

"Ark, Kane." Pervy Doc said, gesturing toward Delilah and Rachel. "Looks like your friends have come to see you today."

Kane and Ark looked over at them. When their eyes met over to them, their faces both got really red. Ark and Kane smiled and ran over to them. Rachel avoided Kane's eyes, instead going to the aid of the bag she'd dropped on the floor. Delilah kicked herself in the leg, trying to get her cool back.

"What are you two doing here?" Kane asked, touching Rachel's arm gently, when she was back to her feet. Rachel had to take a step back, so she wouldn't, you know, faint.

"Oh, I had to pick up some things." She said and then blinked. _He meant why are you waiting for him!_ She growled at herself. "I mean, well, I saw the doctor there and we decided to say hi. R-right, Delilah?"

Delilah nodded, still unable to talk. This is stupid. _Why am I so nervous? I guess I'm just so used to Ark looking crappy that I wasn't expecting her to look so… well good. Seriously, whoa_.

"You know Nova?" Ark asked.

"N-Nova?" Rachel asked her, now she was confused, more than she was embarrassed to be talking to Kane, when that shirt was… so exposing.

"Oh, our doctor." Ark motioned toward the Pervy Doc. "Nova Corpus."

"Oh, yeah." Delilah forced the words out, so she wouldn't be standing there awkwardly in front of everyone without speaking at all. "We met him when we visited the hospital when we heard about you two." She looked at Ark's bandage.

"Oh, yeah," Kane chuckled nervously. "Sorry if we scared you."

Delilah tried to make a fake laugh. But she was too nervously to successfully pull it off. "I-I wasn't scared at all!" She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to them.

She heard Ark chuckle and it made her face get red again. She felt something on her shoulder and when she looked, she could have sworn she was going to burst into flames. Ark's chin was resting on her shoulder, she was grinning at her. "Are you sure?"

Delilah yelped and shoved her away from herself before she did something she would regret, being that close. "Don't get such a big head."

"Okay, okay." Ark said. Her voice got a little distant. "Hey, Nova! What else do we have to do?"

"Well, you two need a haircut." Nova came over to the four of them, ruffling both of their hair. "Wouldn't you ladies agree?"

_God, he's_ trying _to be evil_. Delilah thought, giving Nova a glare, before looking back at Ark. Her hair was almost reaching her shoulders. She wondered what she looked like if her hair was shorter than that. Her hair was always blocking her eyes and most of her face. Since her bangs were so long, but she never made an effort to move her bangs.

Kane was just about the same, but his hair was a big shorter.

"Care to join us?" Nova asked them, giving them a smirk when he saw their expressions. _These girls are fascinating. Seems they react differently when these two are around_. "I'll make sure to take us all out to eat and then I'll bring you two home before dark."

It wasn't really a choice. Ark and Kane were grabbing onto them and encouraging them to join. They all grabbed their bags and headed for the front counter. They paid their wages and then headed out again. As they made their way to the barber shop, Kane turned on the radio.

Ark sat forward, so she was clinging to Kane's seat up front. "Ooh! Turn this up! I heard this song before. It's really good."

He turned it up and suddenly the car was being rocked back and forth because Kane and Ark were yelling the lyrics to the song and dancing in their seats. Nova was just laughing and Delilah and Rachel were grinning at the two of them acting so stupid.

They were so used to the two of them always being serious and always having duties to do, that this was a funny thing to watch. When they arrived, they were all giddy, because of the dancing and singing.

Kane and Ark could hardly sit still when the barber was busy cutting away their hair. Delilah and Rachel sat in the waiting area with Nova. He was reading a magizine, while Delilah and Rachel were busy talking in hushed voices, across the waiting area from Nova.

"Finished!" The woman said and wiping away some sweat, dropping her scissors. "Woulda been done faster if they'd stopped moving." She muttered.

When they came into view, their sexy factors only increased about a hundred percent more. Kane's hair was spiked up in the front and made his eyes look even more radiant. While Ark's hair was still covering over her forehead and eyebrows, but her eyes were finally visible. Her hair was spiky as well.

"Damn." Delilah let it slip. She quicky wished she had grabbed it out of the air before they could hear it, but it was too late. They both heard it and gave each other fistbumps. _God, those two are just like kids_. Rachel thought.

"Phew!" Kane plopped in the booth. "I'm tired from all that walking around." Ark sat down next to him and laced her fingers together on the table. She looked across the table, at Delilah.

"By the way," Rachel said, as they went silent, Nova was up front making orders right now. "How are you two? I mean, we didn't get a chance to ask you that with all the running around and such. We haven't seen the two of you around for a while."

"Nova is taking care of us." Ark told her, as she shook a salt shaker in her hand, making a small pile of white salt. "He said that he wanted us to have a chance just like he did. He escaped the Void when he was younger like us."

"How old was he when he went immortal?" Kane asked Ark, looking over at her, he looked truly confused.

She tapped her chin with the salt shaker. "I'm not sure. He looks pretty young, so maybe like… sixteen, seventeen?"

"Hold up." Delilah held up her hand to stop them from talking about anything else she didn't really understand. "He's _immortal_?"

"Yeah." Ark said it like it was no big deal and she didn't really understand why _she_ was making a big deal out of it. "We are too." She waved her hand between Kane and her.

"Seriously?" Rachel asked, raising her brows.

"Yep." Kane pulled down his shirt and showed her the tattoo on his shoulder. "A Knight's Oath and a sign of my immortality."

"So how old are you really?" Delilah glared at Ark. _I really hope you're not an old woman, otherwise I was checking you out and I'll feel weird_.

She held up her hands in surrender. "Only eighteen." She promised, then grinned when relief swept over Delilah's face. "We got our immortality in when we were eighteen, so we permenantly look like this."

"That's good." Rachel sounded a little too relieved to hear that. When Delilah looked at her, she had her eyes on Kane. Of course. "That's _very_ good." She added quietly.

Delilah rolled her eyes, but couldn't make any jokes. She had been checking out Ark. Who was also a girl. _Does that mean that I'm…? No. No way_. She shook off the question. "We got nervous you left without even saying goodbye."

"We'd never do that." Kane frowned across the table at Rachel. "We have too much to thank you for."

"We didn't do anything, really." Rachel said.

"That's a lie." They both said at the same time.

"You helped us a lot." Ark assured her.

But before an argument could break out, Nova returned with a few bags in his arms. He laid them down and gave Delilah a look that said, 'can I sit here?', but Delilah glared at him and he decided to sit next to Ark instead.

They enjoyed their meal for a while, enjoying talking normally and talking about school and stuff. They were going to be joining their school! Delilah felt overjoyed, but tried not to show it. She ate silently and then looked up. And she saw two girls in their own booth, whispering and pointing at their table.

She followed their gazes to the two siblings laughing and talking. And she felt burning anger in her stomach. _Oh, so you're checking them out?_ She thought, glaring daggers their way. But they didn't see. _Ark wouldn't go for girls like you_.

When she looked back to the table she sat at, she saw Nova smirking at her. She felt her face burning, because she knew he saw her glaring at the girls that were checking out Ark. And Kane, of course. But she was more angry that they were looking at Ark.

At the end of the day, Nova dropped the two of them off at their suggestive spot. Ark and Kane got out, while Nova waited in his car across the street, to give the four of them privacy.

"Thanks for today." Rachel said, holding out her hand to shake for Kane. But Kane surprised both Rachel and Delilah by falling to his knee and grabbing her hand, bringing it up to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and looked up at her. She was bright red now, she pursed her lips, trying not to squeel out of pure joy.

Delilah was about to laugh at Rachel's red face and comment on it, but she felt arms wrap around her from behind. She froze in place and already knew who it was. Ark pulled her close so their bodies were mashed together. Ark rested her head on Delilah's. "I can't wait to see you again." She whispered.

Now they were both steaming and red. Delilah didn't move from Ark's hold and Rachel just allowed Kane to hold her hand further.

They both released Rachel and Delilah and stepped to the edge of the sidewalk. They turned and waved at their friends, before running across the street, to Nova, who was waiting patiently. They got in the car and drove off, leaving both of them to cool off for a second.

They plopped down at the bench and sighed.

"Wow." Rachel whispered, fanning herself. "I think I can admit it now."

"A-admit what?"

"I have a crush on Kane." She told her.

She couldn't admit she had a crush on Ark. Not even to herself. She just said: "Yeah, I saw! You were so red!"

"Sh-shut up!"

* * *

><p>It was around 6 am when I heard Nova talking in a quiet tone downstairs. I couldn't sleep anyway, so I decided to check it out. When I got down the steps, I saw he was on the phone with someone and he didn't look too happy.<p>

I stopped at the bottom step and crossed my arms. He was pacing around the room, chewing on his lip and often shouting into the phone. "You can't be serious!" He growled. He ran a hand through his curly, black hair. "Darren, it's not like that. And you know it."

I don't think he saw me standing there, but I wasn't going to interrupt his very serious chat with whoever was on the other end of the call. He stopped at the window. "Yeah, I know." His voice suddenly got hushed. "Still, you can't do anything?"

There was a pause and he sighed. Without a word, he hung up the phone and threw it on the couch, not hard, but hard enough for it to make a "thump". "Shit." He mumbled.

"Nova?" I finally announced my presence. He spun around, surprised by me. Then he relaxed. "Is everything okay?" I asked, as I stepped off from the bottom step.

He sighed and leaned against the windowsill. "Well, to be honest, no." He shook his head like he couldn't believe what had just happened. "My friend, Darren, he's an old Assassin, who's retired. Back when immortality wasn't used for soldiers. I asked him if he could help me pinpoint where Eve might have gone possibly."

"Speaking of Eve." I sat down on the arm rest of the couch, now just remembering what she'd done back at the hospital. I felt like an idiot for not mentioning it earlier, but I got distracted. "Why did she give you the money to get the pin needle out of us even though she was the one that did it to us?"

"I don't know how that girls brain works." He sighed. "For all I know, she just wanted to scare us."

"Eve said something about letting me feel love and then ripping it away." I told him. "She told me she was in love with me when we were children and she would make sure that we were together in the end. After breaking me."

"She threatened you." He summed up. "She's a tedious girl."

"We have to be careful with her." I told Nova. "She's dangerous. If she knows how to use pin needles like that and kidnap us, without waking us, and is _also_ the lead Knight in Hades' Hall, then we're going to have our work cut out for us."

"Indeed."

"I guess I'll have to train you two even better." He smirked. "After school, I will be training you two hard. I happen to know about the Death Knights training sessions." He placed his hands on his hips. "So be prepared."

I nodded. It's been a long time, since we have had an actual lesson. From an actual teacher. Well, Nova wasn't exactly a Knight teacher, he was a doctor. But he still knew things about the Void that most people would kill to know about. Even the Knights themselves.

* * *

><p>The next day, Kane and I were heading up the sidewalk, to the school. Before we could get too far, we heard Nova shout after us. "Kane! Ark!"<p>

We looked back at him, he was holding out something for us to take. We walked up to him and held out our hands. He dropped something into each of our hands. A little trinket with a black lace in it to hang around our necks, by the looks of it. "Those are Summoner Crystals."

Kane's eyes shined. "No way! I've heard about these."

"Yes, they are attached to your swords. So if anything goes wrong, then you have them." He told us. "Just hold onto them and call out to 'em like you were calling out to someone."

"Thanks." I said and slipped it around my neck, letting the small trinket fall over my chest. I looked up at the people walking in and out of the school, some of them noticed that we haven't been around here before, and were pointing our way. "Nova, really, thanks again. For giving us this chance."

He smirked. "No problem. I'll be here to pick you up after school." He rolled up the window, started the car once again and then sped off down the road.

Kane and I took deep breaths and then headed toward the school. I shrugged my backpack as we walked up the steps, past the students that seemed to give us odd looks. When we were inside, it felt like there was a spotlight on us or someone wrote something really bad on our foreheads. Because everyone stopped and turned our way.

I kept my eyes averted to the ground as we walked. I didn't want to meet anyones eyes. Kane did the same. We walked side-by-side, quietly. We headed toward the office at the end of the hall. We heard people whispering behind us and then louder voices slowly rose from the whispering.

"_Hey, isn't that the two people that jumped in the water?_"

"_Didn't they also force a bus driver to stop?_"

"_Man, those two are so hot_."

Jeez, we've only been here for a few minutes and we're already attracting attention? Damn. This is gonna be bad if we attract anymore attention. When we stepped inside the office, it felt like a safezone, we sighed with relief when we were inside and closed the door.

I looked up to call for someone, when I heard yelling and saw the door fling open in the back. "I'm so sick and tired of your misbehaving!" An older woman's voice came through.

Then I saw Delilah walk through the threshold, pulling her jacket on. She was ignoring the principal. She stopped when she saw us. She looked surprised at first, but frowned and shoved past us, walking out into the hall, the principal came running around, ignoring us as well. She opened the door and yelled after Delilah. "You have detention!"

The woman turned to us, like she just realized we were there. She ran a hand through her silver hair. "Oh, hello. You must be the new students?"

"Ah, yes." I nodded.

"Sorry about that." She came around the desk. "That was my troublesome student, Delilah Fortune. She draped the science classroom with toilet paper this morning."

Kane and I fought to laugh. Instead I licked my lips and said. "Is that so? Seems like she gets into more trouble than just this."

"If you only knew." She sighed, she rubbed her head to ease herself from the headache. "Anyway, here are your schedules. Your classes will be held on the second floor of the building. Welcome to Gardbury." She said and motioned for us to leave as she stepped away from the desk and headed into the back, once again.

We took the slips of paper she left for us and turned to leave, but we stopped when we saw a whole wall of students at the window. Our eyebrows lifted and we looked at each other. "Are they looking at us?" Kane asked, pointing at his chest.

"I'm not sure if I wanna find out."

"Guess we have to make a run for it." Kane sighed.

"What makes you so sure they'll chase us?" I lifted my brows at him.

Someone was smart enough to go through the door instead of just gawking at us through the window. We both looked at the boy who found his way in. And he grinned and headed toward us. "Hey, is it true that you stopped a whole bus of people while still driving?" He asked us.

"Uh," Kane tried to turn away, but he stepped in front of us. "Look, buddy, we don't have time to–"

"Oh!" His eyes brightened like he remembered something. "And did you also jump into the water under the bridge? From the bridge?"

"We don't want to answer that." I took Kane's arm and headed toward the unopened door, but another person came in, asking us the same damned questions. Then another one came in. Then another. And another, and another. Until the whole group was flowing inside. They all swarmed us, asking us all at once, different questions.

I sighed. _This is what we get for causing attention to ourselves_.

I felt a tug on my arm. I looked over, ready to blow up on whoever had the nerve to touch me. But I froze when I saw a kid with glasses and braces on, he looked like the stereotypical nerd. His blonde hair was styled in a weird and nerdy way, he had a lot of achne on his face, tape in the middle of his glasses, he had a plaid shirt on and looked like he was super scrawny.

He motioned for us to follow him. I didn't get a chance to ask him, because he climbed under the desk. I pulled Kane down with me and quickly followed the nerdy kid. The desk was long and it led all the way to the back room, where there was a printer and a table. Two teachers were in there and they looked surprised when we came bustling in. Kane closed the door and leaned against it, like he was afraid they'd come busting through any minute.

"Thanks, dude." I sighed, leaning on my knees and looking up at the nerdy kid. Yep, he was definitely scrawny. He had his plaid shirt tucked in over a black belt and tan pants. He was wearing his socks way too high on his legs and had black shoes on that looked too fancy for formal wear. "Uh, I'm Ark and this is my brother Kane."

"Yeah, I know who you are." He sounded impatient for some reason, or annoyed with us. The two teachers just continued to stare at us.

"Excuse me?" I stood up, placing a hand on my hip. Some nerve this guy had, talking to me like that.

"It's kinda hard to miss. The whole school's been talking about you." He rolled his eyes, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "The bus incident went viral."

"Hear that, Ark?" Kane chuckled, still having his back pressed to the wooden door. "We're famous."

"Ha. Funny." I said sarcastically and then turned back to the nerdy kid. "Look, thanks. But why are you so annoyed?"

He rolled his eyes again and turned his back to us. "Just come on. I really don't have time to explain things to you." He walked toward the other door on the other side of the small room. Kane and I went after him, not seeing any other way. He led us down the now deserted hall, toward the steps. We didn't bother checking the office.

When we got to the second floor, we let out a breath of relief. The nerdy kid just kept walking. We went after him. He stopped when he came to a doorway. The sign on it read: "COMPUTER CLUB". I looked over at him in confusion. He rolled his eyes again. "Just go inside." He ordered.

Kane shrugged and opened the door. The nerdy kid pushed us inside and closed the door behind us, not bothering to come in himself. I looked back at the closed door, about to say something, but was cut off by another voice in the dark. "Ah, I've been eagerly awaiting you."

I turned slowly to see a guy dressed in black. He had blonde hair that looked shaggy, covering over his eyes, but I could see the glasses he wore. He had piercings in his ears and nose and lip. His smile was unnerving. The only source of light in the room was a single illuminated computer screen on the desk in front of him. He had the chair aimed to us, his elbows were leaning on the rests and his fingers were laced together, he had one leg over the other.

He looked like the basic image of a bad guy.

"And you are?" Kane asked, he sounded calm, but his facial expression said that he was concerned.

"I am Bryan Romero." He told us, still not losing that crisp and odd, and very unnerving grin on his face. "And I'm very fascinated in the both of you." He stood up, he wasn't taller than us, even me. And I was shorter than Kane. But still, he walked with confidence and never missed a beat. "I saw the news report on the two of you. As did most of the kids in the school. But what I'm more interested in is the fact that you could see it."

Our eyes widened. _Damn. This guy better not be any _more_ trouble_. I thought, fighting to ask if he knew anything about the Void.

"So you see them too, is that it? The Hounds." Kane asked, still as calm as ever. He crossed his arms over his wide chest.

He shrugged, shoving his hands in his sweatshirt pockets, slouching his shoulders and bowing his head low, so his blonde strands would further fall over his face and block our view from his face. "Let's say I do. What will you two do?"

"Look, here, buddy." I was never as calm and as cool as Kane when it came to someone like this. He was pushing my buttons with his little "mind game", whatever he was trying to do, it was pissing me off. I walked over to him, he didn't move, and he didn't lose that stupid smile. I grabbed his shirt and lift him up, straightening up the bastard. "What the hell do you know?"

"I know that you two are beyond this world. And I know that the Boss's aren't as easy to defeat, are they? Even for you."

"Don't worry," I growled, with my free hand, I grabbed the necklace Nova gave to me. "I got my protection now. Any other words, you cocky motherf–"

"Ark, language." Kane warned, still not bothering to cut in or ask anything.

I rolled my eyes at him, looking over my shoulder. "Seriously? You're worried about _language_ right now?"

"You two are such tools." Bryan Romero chuckled. "I could snap you two in a second."

I turned back to him, glaring. "Try me." I growled, shoving him hard against his desk, causing the computer screen to falter a little.

He removed my hand, like it was some diseased animal that he didn't want to touch. He walked past me, calmly, around his desk, and sat down in his seat. "I won't fight you here. But know, that I can have Hounds here on your ass's in a second. So don't piss me off."

"Why did you want to see us anyways?"

"I wanted to introduce myself is all." He pushed his hair away from his eyes and I caught a glimpse at his eyes. Two colored eyes. One eye was colored a normal shade of blue and the other one was an irregular silver color. He pushed his glasses up. "Let you know that I am well aware of your presence and theirs. And… that if I need something done, then you shouldn't deny me. Or else."

"You little punk." I went to go pound his face in, but Kane's hand fell on my shoulder, stopping me. I looked back at him. He just shook his head back at me in response, telling me that it wasn't right. Not yet. I sighed and turned back to him. "You get out of this once. But _you'd_ better watch yourself. You have _no idea_ who you're messing with."

"And just who am I messing with?" He sounded smug, behind his little computer screen. Little computer nerd punk.

We headed toward the door, I opened it up and looked over my shoulder at him. "Kane and Ark fucking Gothard!" I slammed it with every muscle in my body, hoping that it broke his little grin.

Bryan's smirk didn't falter. In fact, it widened. As he fixed his trembling computer screen, he stroked his chin. "Gothard…" he muttered and then went online to search for the Gothard's history. When he found a whole page and a very fascinating picture, his grin got even wider, stretching from ear to ear. "Interesting…"

"That was a tad rude, don't ya think?" Kane said, trying to catch up to me.

I didn't look back at him. Not once, I was too pissed off. "I don't give a hell. What a fucking punk. God, I wanted to smash that little nerd's glasses." I growled, then turned and quickly gave a hard punch to a nearby locker. When I pulled away, I saw the dent in the metal and my hand aching. But I ignored the pain and turned my glare on Kane. "You should have let me go at him! I would have taught him a thing or two."

"And what good would that do us?"

I pointed at the now dented locker. "I wouldn't have damaged anything."

"You would have hurt that guy." He raised his eyebrows. I just rolled my eyes and he sighed. "Ark, we're trying not to cause any more attention to us, if you do anything like that, then that wouldn't have helped."

I sighed, knowing he was right. "All right, all right." I breathed in and out, feeling the heat of the moment calm and my need to punch that stupid cocky computer nerd lessen. "I'm calm now."

"Good." He smiled. "Let's go to class, shall we?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go." We headed further down the hall.

I pulled the door open and scanned the class. Class, luckily, hadn't started yet, people were just wandering around the room, talking in their own little groups and getting ready. And even more lucky, nobody looked at us like we had a gigantic sign on our faces saying, "I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT!".

Looks like our luck was going on a streak, because I looked across the room and spotted two familiar faces, sitting at the corner of the room. They were talking to each other, but they hadn't noticed us.

We quickly went over to them, as we got closer, they took notice. I waved at them. "Hey, guys."

* * *

><p>Somewhere in England, Nite stood at the bottom of the steps, holding her target in her arms. She lifted him up on her shoulder and sighed, checking the time on her watch. She smirked. "Two hours early." She was satisfied at how well this was turning out.<p>

She headed back to her ride, a well-kept Harley Davison motorbike. She tied up the rich man and slapped some tape over his mouth before lugging him on the back of the bike. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a stick of gum, she unwrapped it and put it in her mouth, tossing the wrapper to the side, she got on.

She looked up at the badass house and saluted it. "Adios." She was about to take off, when she felt the vibration of her phone. She lowered her hands from the handles and reached in her pocket, to pull out her cell phone. She read the number and smirked. She flipped it open and lifted it up to her ear. "Yo, yo, yo." She answered.

"I have something interesting to tell you, Nite." Bryan said, in his smooth and calm and somewhat amused voice on the other end.

"And what would that be?" Nite asked, not sounding very interested when she spotted a couple walking around down below. She grabbed her binoculars and brought it up with her free hand. She aimed in, mostly on the girls ass. "Ohh, la, la." She muttered, grinning through chews.

"Guess who walked in a few minutes ago?"

"Come now, Bryan," she said, still focused on the girl's ass. But then decided to look just a little bit higher. She straightened up just a bit and found what she was looking for. She grinned. "You know I'm not good with guessing games."

"How about a hint?"

"Ugh, just tell me." She tried to sound like she was annoyed with him, but she was more focused on the girl down below right at the moment. _Oh, man that guy is so dumb. It's so obvious what she wants_. "You can tell by her body language." She said out loud.

"What?"

"Nothing. Now tell me!"

"All right, all right." He was silent for a few seconds and then he said. "I don't know if you'll remember them. But do you recall a Kane and an Ark?"

Suddenly the girls boobs didn't seem too interesting. She dropped the binoculars instantly, she heard the glass in them shatter from the impact of the fall. Even the couple down below heard it and looked, but couldn't find Nite in the cover of the trees. She gripped the handle bars to keep herself from falling. She put a hand over her mouth. "You're kidding."

"Nope." Bryan chuckled.

"Where are you?" She asked, turning the grip of the motorbike in her hands and awakening the engine. "I'm coming there right now."

"I thought you had a mission to take care of."

"Fuck that!" She looked back at the rich man. "I'll worry about that later. Now tell me, where are you?"

"Gardbury. Same place I've been the last two months now." He sounded annoyed when he said that. "This place is fucking boring."

"I'm on my way." She closed the phone immediately and shoved it into her pocket. She sped off as soon as she sat herself down on the bike and toward the border, where she was going to find Kane and Ark. She swallowed. _How long has it been, guys? Do you even remember me?_ Nite thought, feeling the stinging of tears threatening to enter her eyes. She shook her head. "No time for that!" She increased speed and took off at full speed, dodging cars and going past red lights, toward her destination. "I'm coming, guys!"

…

**:P**

** Am I making you angry with all these cliffhangers? I'm sorry. It's kinda my thing when I do these things. I hope you're not extremely angry with me and making plans to murder me or anything. Please don't. That would be very bad for my health. **

** Anyway! Thanks for reading, I appreciate it so much and I'll see you soon with more content. Bub-bye! **

**-ComicalFace**


	6. Nite

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 6:

Nite

"_Steady now." Blackjack called to us as we stared at the flames intensly. We weren't allowed to move or falter one bit, we had to watch the flames, no matter how close they were. No matter how much we felt like they were going to burn us alive, we had to stay completely still and stand our ground. But we were having trouble. All of our instincts told us to get the hell out of the way, but Blackjack blared over them. "Don't back up."_

_ We felt the flames licking behind us, threatening to enter our bubble of protection. I swallowed down hard. Hoping that my fear wasn't too visible. Blackjack was standing beyond the flames, his arms were crossed and he had that usual grumpy look on his face. But that was no surprise. _

_ "Why are we practicing on fire? It's not like fire will obey." Kane called over the crackles of the fire. _

_ "Exactly." He said. "Flames are wild and uncontrollable. And most importantly, unpredictable." As he walked nearer, we saw the flames cower down, like they were too afraid to be present with him around. We relaxed a little. "Just like your opponents. The lesson is to teach you that you must stand strong in the face of any opponent."_

_ "That's all good an all." I rubbed the back of my neck. "But we're only fourteen. We won't get a real life mission until we're at least sixteen."_

_ "It takes years to prepare yourself." Blackjack was now towering over the two of us. The fire had completely died away, but we saw the fire in his eyes, which scared us more than the actual fire. "Your enemies will be strong. Very strong. And if you've not prepared, for a long time, then you will not survive." He sounded more angry with us. _

_ "One more question," I said, probably testing myself. "Why are we the only ones in here?"_

_ "Because I've taken the liberty of giving you two extra lessons." Blackjack told us, although, I can't say it was much of an honor, I felt like we were granted with "EXTRA BEATINGS! AND EVEN MORE INSULTS!" a night. It was almost twelve at night now. We were exhausted. I so just wanted to go upstairs and go to bed right now, but of course, I couldn't yet. "Hades is… more interested in the two of you than any other student."_

_ His voice was suddenly quiet and less threatening. We stared at him softly, feeling like we couldn't say anything to comfort him. He cleared his voice when he saw the looks we were giving him and straightened up, turning back to his teacher-like self again. "You two may go. It's quite late. I'll see you tomorrow morning."_

_ We nodded once and then exited the room. _

_ We walked in silence, heading toward the dorm rooms, where we slept. When we got to the door, beyond that led to the two staircases that led into the boys and girls rooms. We looked at each other. We were both much wiser at the age of fourteen than most kids. Considering the conditions we lived in and the things we did every day, no wonder. _

_ However, there was still that little child that was inside of us, that we weren't ever allowed to let out. Which desperately wanted out. But we had both silenced that child a long time ago. Still, every now again, we couldn't help but wonder what'd it be like. _

_ We said our goodnights to each other as respectively as we could and went inside, to go to our dorms. We split off and disappeared on the staircases. When I got to the top step and came through the door, I saw that everyone was already asleep. Kind of surprising. Sometimes I come in here and they'd be in a circle, whispering about things. _

_ I went to my bed, which was lined up with everyone else's. I laid down into it, not bothering with the blankets. Or changing. I was too tired and troubled to care. I unbuttoned my uniform jacket and allowed my white t-shirt to show for a second, just for a little comfort. _

_ "You okay?" I heard a whisper in the cot next to mine. I looked over at Eve, who was facing me, head tilted in her pillow. I could see her with the light of the window. "You seem troubled."_

_ "I'm all right." I whispered back to her. "Just tired."_

_ "How is tudoring?" She sat up a little in her bed. Her long, brown hair fell around her creamy white shoulders. "Must be rough for you."_

_ I nodded. "Yeah. It is. Blackjack is merciless." _

_ She stood up from her bed, while I continued talking. "I think he has a personal grudge against Kane and I." She sat down on the edge of my bed. "Either that, or maybe he just wants to torture us for his own amusement." She lied down next to me, laying her head on my spread our arm and curling next to me. Her arms wrapped around me. _

_ She's done this many nights before, so I thought nothing of it and didn't find it unusual. "He doesn't want to torment you." Eve finally said, burying her face into my neck. To me, this was a friendly thing, nothing more, nothing less. We didn't exactly have Sex Ed or "how-to-tell-she-likes-you" Ed. So this obviously went right over my head. But can you blame me? I only learned how to fight. Nothing else. "He just wants you to be the best you can be."_

_ "Yeah, I suppose." I fell asleep, with my arms around Eve. _

_ The next morning, before I could get to class, I saw Blackjack down the hall, he was talking to someone who was wearing a hood, so I couldn't see her face. She had a ring on her finger that I clearly saw. She didn't look like she was from around here, so it immediately caught my eye. The woman and Blackjack were having an argument, obviously, based on how they were talking. _

_ Kane and I both stopped in front of the doorway, allowing the others to go inside, but we stayed behind to watch the argument unfold. The girl turned her head down to our direction. And we both froze. Her eyes locked on us and we saw a smile from under the hood. Blackjack grabbed her arm when he saw this and she looked back at him. He said something that made her shake her head and yank her arm free, she turned her back on him and headed for the exit of the building. _

_ I looked over at Kane. He looked back at me as well. _

_ Blackjack eyed the exit for a while before he walked toward us. He bent down in front of us and grabbed our arms. "Hey." He said softly. He was being nice again, that means something must have happened again. He squeezed our arms. "So you saw her?"  
><em>

_ "Who is she?" I asked. _

_ He just shook his head. "It's not important right now." He just said. "Go inside. Class will begin shortly."_

_He stood up and headed inside, without us. We watched him go in curiously, but then soon followed inside after him._

* * *

><p>The day passed as normally as possible. We were actually enjoying ourselves. Thsi school was easy, though. We had already learned things like this and beyond back when we were kids. Kane and I were breezing through the classes. We didn't find a struggle in any one of them. And yeah, I get that I probably sound like a show off. But what can I say? It <em>was <em>easy.

But it was only when we reached gym class did we really get to show off. We went into the locker rooms. I sat on the bench and watched. Since I didn't have any clothes, and I didn't find it strange. But apparently some girls did. They asked if I could turn around and not watch them. One of them including Delilah. So I did and watched the wall, waiting for the sound of shifting clothes and chatter to cease. Although, I didn't hear Delilah talk at all.

When everyone had left the room, I stood up and followed them out. But I felt a hand on my arm. I looked over my shoulder, at Delilah. Her face was beat red. "Y-you're gonna go out there like that?"

I looked down at my clothing. "Is there a problem?"

"You should change into something more flexible." She suddenly got even redder. _What's wrong with her? Is it really hot in here?_ I looked up at the air, as if I was asking the air. "Didn't you bring extra clothes?"

"I didn't think I needed to."

"I thought this might happen." She turned to her backpack. She bent down and unzipped it, pulling out a change of clothes. "Here."

I took the clothes and shrugged. "Okay." I reached up and lifted the shirt above my head.

Delilah may have been a little cruel.

But she really wanted to see what Ark looked like in more girlish clothes. So she picked out some really short shorts and a pink tank top. She couldn't wait to see it.

"Ah, Delilah?" She heard Ark say from behind her. She tried to play innocent. "What kind of clothing did you put me in?"

She fought to laugh. _Oh, boy. This ought to be good_. She turned around to say something cocky, or laugh. But instead she pursed her lips together and allowed her eyes to widen. _How could it be?! Ark actually looks sexy in these clothes!_ She thought to her horror. The pink tank fit around her perfectly, showing off her fine breasts. Not big, but noticeable enough. Her flat stomach made her figure look even more feminine. The short shorts didn't even get passed her thighs. And her legs were long and thin, a little mascular. _Damn! This backfired on me_. Delilah frantically though, eyeing Ark's incredible figure.

And when she looked up at her face, she thought she was going to have a nosebleed. Ark was blushing! Her face was red, she wrapped her arms around herself. "Q-quit staring at me."

Delilah clamped a hand over her mouth. "I need to get some air!" She nearly screamed and ran to the back door. She opened it up and ran out, slamming it behind her. She leaned against it, as if she were trapping Ark. She gasped for air. "When you say it like that…" she said to herself. But was intending it for Ark.

It took a second for Delilah to gather her brain. But when she felt she was confident enough to face Ark, she stepped back inside.

"Okay, Ark, let's–" she stopped when she saw Ark. She flung water over her face from the faucet. Her hair fell back around her head and dripped down her neck and shirt. She looked over at Delilah, still slightly red.

"Delilah." She said, dreamily.

Or maybe it wasn't dreamily, at the moment Delilah felt like she needed to just run away and not come back. She walked past her. "Just hurry up and come out!" She yelled back at her, not daring looking back.

* * *

><p>Nite skidded to a stop at her organization. She pulled the rich CEO off her bike and dragged him forth, he was awake now so he was struggling and saying muffled things. She dropped him in front of the guards. "I have to go." She said, holding out her hand. "So give me the money. I'm gonna need it."<p>

The guard reached into his jacket and pulled out a wad of cash. He plopped it into Nite's hand. She closed her fist around it and stuffed it into her pocket. She spun around, heading down the steps, when she heard. "Nite." She stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Thomas, I don't have time for this right now." She said, continuing down the steps, to her ride. When she stopped at it to lock her gun into place and set her bag inside the back, he came up behind her. She rolled her icy blue eyes. "Thomas, please?"

He ran his hands up her arms and sniffed her hair. "I missed you."

"Fuck off." She snapped, shoving him off. "Jesus, haven't you gotten a hold of your horniness yet?"

"Oh, c'mon, babe, you know I can't." He chuckled. "Especially when you get on that sexy ass bike of yours. I dig biker girls."

"Once again." She got onto her bike, igniting it. "Fuck. Off."

"Wait, wait, wait." He stepped in front of the bike, resting his hands on hers. "Look, no more flirting. Okay? Just hear me out."

She rolled her eyes again and huffed, but turned off the bike to listen. He smiled when he saw her give in. He released the bike hesitantly. "There's been some rumors floating around town lately. People say they've heard wolves howling."

"Yeah, so?"

"_So_, we both know what these are."

"Hellhounds?"

"Exactly."

"What does that have to do with me, Thomas? I'm not a Hunter of Artemis, I don't deal with those things." She went to start to bike, so she could get going, but once again, he held up his hands and she turned it off, still really annoyed with him.

"I know you aren't." He sounded cautious, probably afraid she'd try to take off again. "But the fact of the matter is that if you bring in a Hound, it'll pay good."

"Call one of the Hephaestus Agents, or better yet, an actual Hunter to do this. I'm going now."

"You aren't interested?"

"No."

"That's weird for you, Nite. You're always interested in making cash. What's up with you?" Thomas sounded actually confused. She couldn't tell him about Kane and Ark, she knew he'd try to interfere. She was sent here for a reason, to stay away from them, that's why Blackjack didn't allow her to see them when she came to the Void. But she promised her that she would come back again and free them. They've freed themselves, and now she had to go back to see them. She _had_ to. "Have you fallen for someone?"

"As if." She snorted and started the bike again. "Now move it." She ordered. He did as she said and she drove off. She sped off, without looking back or bothering to watch out for traffic. Thomas admired the girl for her guts and her psychotic driving skills. But he couldn't let her leave just yet.

He looked back at his guys. "Forget the CEO. Go after her." He ordered. "Don't let her leave. I wanna know what's she's up to."

"Yes, sir."

Nite sped through the streets, speeding past people and stop lights and even the police. Not caring if they saw her. She picked up the speed when she spotted the bridge a few hours later. She smirked to herself. "Here I come." She whispered to herself and felt the bike zip onto the smooth drive of the bridge.

Now, when she get past the bridge, she would only have to drive to the airport. She didn't have any intentions of the taking the plane, but she did know where to go better from the airport when she was there. Mostly because she took the airport a lot back when she had just arrived here.

But it wasn't long before she caught sight of something behind her. A black car._ Hadn't I seen that black car a while ago?_ She wondered, looking back at the road, but quickly shifting her eyes back to the rear view mirror._ Certainly, I've seen it before. That means… I'm being followed_. "Must be that goddamn horny pervert." She sighed.

But Thomas underestimated her skills. She looked to her right and caught sight of the thin alleyways. She made a sharp turn, that caught the drivers off guard. They skidded to a stop, which confirmed her suspicions of being followed. She zipped through the alleys, quickly going down them with precision and skill. The car couldn't fit in the alleyway, so she knew she was safe for now. When she came out the other end of the alley, she pulled the bike to a sharp stop and looked up and down the roads.

"Serves them right." She chuckled, feeling the eyes of many people on her on the streets and in the two decker bus pulled to a stop nearby. She smirked at everyone and waved. "Goodnight!" She shouted and then sped off once again, leaving skid marks behind.

But she knew it wouldn't be long before she was tailed again.

* * *

><p>"Boss, how do you know these two will even be an issue?" Jeremy asked Bryan. Bryan chewed on his pen, reading the page pulled up on his computer carefully. His eyes never left the computer, as always. "They could just be as normal as everyone else. How do you know they're even a threat?"<p>

"My dearest, Jeremy." Bryan began, causing Jeremy to tense in his seat and automatically straighten up to heed his words. "Do you question me?"

"N-no! Of course not, sir. I'm just a little confused is all." He stammered.

"Shall I explain?" Bryan asked, shifting his multi-colored eyes to his faithful assistant sitting in his seat. "The last name, Gothard, is a very rare name to have. And happens to be the last name to the family that specialized in this kind of thing." Bryan explained, with a smirk playing on his lips. "They also have a large history of Hades' Knights. It seems the Gothards donate any will bodied child to that world."

Jeremy gritted his teeth. "A Knight?" He asked. He knew he didn't like them right from the start. Now he _really_ didn't like them.

Bryan saw the pain flicker across his face and sneered. "Yes. They are Hades' Knights." Bryan decided to use Jeremy's pain to his advantage. "The same thing that you weren't ever allowed to become."

He looked away from Bryan, to the floor. He didn't want to let Bryan see his jealousy. "I see."

"Do you hate them for it?" Bryan asked him, but his tone read that he thought so.

"No." He lied. "I wouldn't hate them for it."

"Are you sure? It's justified if you do."

"I don't!" Jeremy stood up and ran for the door, before Bryan could get it out of him.

Bryan, once again, smiled. "This is getting interesting." He looked at the phone on his desk and said. "You'd better get here fast, Nite."

* * *

><p>Kane, Rachel, Delilah and I stood in the corner of the gym. I was holding a jump rope in my hands. Each handle in my hands. I looked over at Kane. "How many did she say we needed to do?"<p>

"Um, I don't know. Until she says stop?" He began to jump rope.

Rachel joined him a few seconds later. I sighed and began to jump, even though I felt embarrassed for wearing such revealing clothes. I wasn't used to wearing shorts so short and pink. Or a tank top, for that matter. I didn't really like wearing tank tops, because they showed too much skin for my liking. And on top of that, I was sweating and jumping around. I felt like everyone was looking at me.

Er, maybe it's because every time I look at Delilah, she's staring at me. But she quickly looks away whenever I catch her. _God, how stupid do I look?_ I think whenever I see her looking at me. After a while, Kane and I became tired. Kane stopped and leaned against the wall. "Jeez. This is tiresome."

"I know." I gasped, plopping on the floor. "I feel like I'm gonna fall asleep."

"Me too." Kane and I looked at each other and grinned. "Oh, no. I think I'm gonna…" we both plopped our heads together and pretended we were asleep.

"Guys, don't pretend." Delilah sighed, stopping to stare down at us.

"Can't hear you. I'm sleeping." I said, eyes still closed.

"Ark." Delilah snapped.

I pretended to snore so I couldn't hear her. She growled and fell to her knees in front of me. I felt her hovering over me. "If you don't wake up…"

"You'll do what?" I opened one eye and caught sight of her glaring at me and smirked.

"Okay, okay." Kane sat up, causing me to fall over. "We're up." Kane grinned back at me. I sat up and shouldered him. "You're fault. You didn't react quick enough."

"Fucker." I smirked.

"You two better stand up before the teacher comes over here." Rachel said, but smirked at us.

We did as she asked and stood. When we were standing, I sighed. "But for real, how long do we have to do this?"

"However long we need to." Delilah turned her back on me. "Now get to work."

"Aye, aye, captain." I saluted her back and picked up the rope.

When class finally ended, I went to the locker room to finally get changed back into my other clothing. I gave the clothes back to Delilah, who didn't even meet my eyes when she did. After I was dressed, I went to wait for Delilah, but Delilah said. "Just go on without me." She waved her hand at me. And looked at Rachel. "You too."

Rachel and I left the changing room together. Leaving Delilah behind to regroup back with Kane.

* * *

><p>Delilah pulled her shirt on and closed her locker to get her shoes on. She picked up her backpack from the floor. But a hand fell on her shoulder and forced her to look back. Miss Priss stood before her, holding onto her shoulder. She didn't seem cocky, like she usually did. But she looked more like she was pleading with Delilah.<p>

She shoved Miss Priss's hand off of her shoulder. "What do you want, Miss Priss?" She growled.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I mean, Alex." She smirked when Ms. Priss's eyes flared.

She suddenly went back to pleading. "D-Delilah, do you like that boy?"

"What boy?" She frowned.

Alex looked like she was fiddling with her hands. She dropped her gaze to the floor. Suddenly, Delilah felt like she had something she needed to get off of her chest. "The one that you were hanging out with before."

"Kane?"

"Yeah, that one."

"No. He's just a friend. Besides, I like someone else." She quickly regretted saying that. First of all, it was Miss Priss she told it to and on top of that, she just unconsciously admitted that she had a crush on Ark. "I mean, forget I said that."

Alex grasped her hands suddenly, Delilah's eyes widened. "What are you doing?" She asked, backing up into the wall.

Everyone had left, thank god. She was worried that someone was watching them. If so, then this would have been really embarrassing. She glared at Alex. "Alex, let go."

"I need to tell you." She whispered. Her face was really close. Delilah stared back into her eyes. She felt frightened. She didn't know how to react to this kind of thing. She didn't like Alex being so close, but she didn't say anything. She just watched as she tilted her head slightly and allowed herself to move in even closer. Her mouth was deathly close now. Delilah could feel her breath on her mouth. "I don't want to give you up to anyone else. Ever."

"A-Alex?"

Her mouth pressed against Delilah's. Delilah's eyes widened, she stiffened up as Alex wrapped her arms around Delilah, bringing her closer to her. Alex's arms tightened and she continued to kiss Delilah. It was slow and soft. She didn't push it too far, but she made it passionate.

The confusion filled Delilah. She and Alex have been rivals for years. They never got along and every time they were in the same room, everyone had to evacuate so they wouldn't get caught up in the fight. People have actually made fanclubs for their rivalry. Whenever they got into a fight, they were there to make bets.

Alex always tried to make Delilah feel bad or tried to always make her seem lesser than her. Alex had made Delilah's "Most Hated" list. And was first place.

What do you do when you get kissed by the person who hates you most?

Alex moved her hands to Delilah's hips and squeezed. Delilah's eyes didn't close. But she didn't pull away. She had to admit, it felt good. Kissing felt nice. Kissing a girl wasn't bad at all. Girls were… fragile and smooth and soft. Did guys feel the same way? Delilah felt her own hands snake up Alex's body.

Alex whimpered against Delilah's lips. She shivered when Delilah's hands came to the unclothed part of her body. She quickly realized that Alex wasn't wearing pants. Just her underwear and her gym shirt. She skimmed her hands on her thigh's. Alex moved her own hands down to the end of Delilah's shirt and slipped her hand under it, to feel her bare skin under her fingertips.

"Delilah…" Alex whispered, when her lips released Delilah's. "I want you."

She imagined that the person saying that wasn't Alex. Yes, Alex felt nice. Her mouth was soft. But not the one she wanted to feel. Not the person she wanted to hear those words from. When she imagined it was that certain someone, she grabbed Alex's shirt and flipped her around, so Alex was pinned against the wall. She kissed her hard on her mouth.

Alex seemed surprised by this for just a moment, then quickly responded.

It was only when the bell had rung and everyone was flooding into the hall, did Delilah regain herself. And pulled away. Alex and Delilah were both breathless from the intense moment, but quickly gathered themselves. They both looked red. "Ah, I'm sorry!" Delilah jumped back from Alex.

Alex just shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect you to…"

"Neither was I." She felt bad for imagining her to be Ark instead. Alex was pretty. Really pretty. But she happened to have a crush on Ark. "W-we should get to class."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>I gathered my things to head out, Kane was next to me. Luckily, our lockers were close. I looked over at him. "Hopefully, Nova won't make us wait long."<p>

"Yeah, I hope not." He agreed, nodding. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and turned. He checked his watch. "Shouldn't be too long."

Rachel walked over to us shortly after, she didn't look like she was ready to go home. She was dressed in some kind of uniform, with tennis shoes on. We frowned at her questionably. She smirked. "I have track." She told us. We knew enough to know what track was. "I have to stay afterschool and handle that."

"Oh, I see. Would you like us to stay behind with you?" I asked.

"No need. I'll be fine." She said with a wink. "You two go home. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yep." We waved as she jogged off.

"Okay," I turned to Kane. "So school isn't _that_ bad."

"Who'da thought?" He joked, nudging me with his elbow and grinned. I grinned back and we headed for the exit.

But when we got to the steps, I snapped my fingers. "Ah, shit. I forgot something. I'll be right back." I jogged up the steps and headed back inside before the doors locked on me. I quickly headed up the second flight up steps and down the hallway, toward where my locker was. I stopped at it and started putting in the combination, when I heard people talking.

"I don't know." The first voice said.

"C'mon. Please?" The second one said.

I felt bad for eavesdropping, but I felt like I knew these voices. I walked toward the pair of voices. I quickly learned that the first voice was Delilah's. And the second… was some girl I've never seen before. I could see them in the reflection of the doors they stood parallel from.

"Why won't you just say yes?" The other girl asked Delilah, she sounded odd. Almost hopeful. "I like you. And I want to be _with_ you."

"Aren't you scared about hurting your rep? I know there's gotta be some people around here that aren't okay with same-sex relationships." Delilah was saying.

_Same-sex relationships? What's that?_ I thought and frowned a little when I didn't know what it meant.

"I don't care." The other girl said, stepping very close to Delilah. I thought it was odd how much they were touching and the way they were talking. And definitely how close they were standing to each other. Were they about to fight? "I want you."

_Want her to do what?_ I wondered again. _Damn, what the hell's going on?_

Delilah's face suddenly got red. I saw the pink tinge on her cheeks. She looked away, down to the floor. "This is just way too bizarre. I thought you hated me."

"Never!" The other girl took her hand and brought her hand up to her face, making Delilah touch her face. "I never hated you. You just didn't ever notice me unless I was mean to you. So I pretended to dislike you. But I always loved you. Please, believe that."

"Alex, just give me some time." Delilah whispered to her, volunterily placing her other hand on her other cheek. "This is all so sudden. Just give me some time to gather my thoughts, okay?"

Alex smiled. Then I saw her do something that _did_ make me go red. She placed a kiss on her lips. "Okay." She whispered to Delilah. "I'll wait for you."

_Wait, she's acting the same way Eve did towards me. And Eve told me… hold on! Does that mean that she_–

_BANG!_

I jumped when I heard the noise and spun around. What was that?! I bent over to see, but was unable to see anything clearly.

Footsteps to my left called to me. I looked over and felt my face get red. Delilah looked just as red as me. Then she frowned. "How long were you standing there?"

"Ah…"

For once, I was happy to see a Hellhound. _Thank god. I don't have to answer her question now_. The Hound smashed through the window of the second story, it turned its eyes on me and growled, foam spilling out of its mouth. It arched its back and rushed toward us. I grabbed Delilah's hand and ran down the hall, hearing it smack into the lockers.

Before I could sprint off with Delilah, she ripped her hand from mine. "We have to get to Alex first."

"She'll be fine. She can't even see them." I went to grab her hand, but she pulled away from me. I growled. "Dammit, Delilah!" I grasped the necklace and lifted my chin. "_TUNDRA!_" I shouted very, very loudly. Just as Nova said, Tundra was there, in my hand, instead of the necklace. I glared at Delilah. "Go get your friend. I'll handle this fucking thing."

"Thanks." She sprinted past the Hound, that was still struggling to pull its head free from the lockers.

I pointed the tip of the sword at the beast. "Let's get this over with, you fucking bastard."

* * *

><p>Kane tapped his foot uneasily. He considered going in to see what was taking Ark so long, but he didn't get the chance to. Because as soon as he turned his back, he heard a huge howl. He spun around instantly. And spotted it. It was on top of the tall building across the street. Its head was blocking the sun. It howled loudly. And then turned its eyes on him.<p>

He reached up and grasped the necklace around his neck. "_SAKI!_" He yelled loudly into the air and felt the handle of the sword come into play. He tossed his backpack aside and glared back up at the beast. It thrust itself off of the building and came crashing to the ground, like a bomb. Cars parked on the road went off and some of the windows shattered.

Another one emerged from the alleyway, but didn't bother with Kane. It jumped high into the air, through the second story window of the school, where he was sure Ark was. "Ark!" He yelled and turned to go help his sister, but felt the weight of the beast knock him down. He growled and looked back. It had its paw on his back, to stop him from helping Ark. He narrowed his eyes and swung the blade quickly at the beast.

It jumped backwards, back to its original spot. He picked himself up and lifted Saki once more. "Where'd you come from, you ugly thing?" He growled at the beast.

It growled, barked and then charged Kane. He held up Saki, ready for a fight.

* * *

><p>Rachel stopped in the middle of a race and looked back at the school. She was a few yards away from it, but she could hear the loud bang and something else. She also had that powerful feeling that something wasn't right. She wiped away some sweat from her forehead and bit her lip. She looked over at her coach. "Ma'am, can I go back to my locker? I just remembered I needed to call my Mum."<p>

"Yeah, yeah, Grove. Hurry it up." She was too busy with her clipboard to care.

Rachel nodded and ran toward the exit of the fence. And then jogged to the school, feeling that dreadful thing getting stronger by the second. She stopped at the back door. She rested her hand on the handle and as soon as she gripped the handle, she had a image flash in her head of Kane and Ark and Delilah. "Guys… please, be okay." Then she stepped inside.

* * *

><p>Delilah managed to find Alex, before the Hound did. She grabbed Alex from behind, causing her to yelp from surprise. She ignored the embarrassement she got from it and dragged her down the hall, toward one of the empty classrooms. When she got her inside and slammed the door shut, Alex was smirking. "Have you made your mind already?"<p>

"Not exactly." She said, breathlessly. "You have to stay quiet."

"I hope I can." She said flirtily. "But it depends what you do to me."

Delilah's face got red. "I'm not gonna do anything." She whispered and opened the door just a little to have a peak. The hallway was still empty. "Ark, please be okay." She whispered so Alex wouldn't hear.

She felt bad for leaving Ark behind and also making her mad for some reason. But she needed to make sure Alex was okay. She couldn't forgive herself if she got hurt. But she also couldn't forgive herself if Ark was hurt after this either.

"So what are we doing here then?" Alex asked.

"It's a little hard to explain." Delilah turned back to Ms. Priss. Er, Alex. "Just go with it, please."

"Okay, okay." Alex came up behind Delilah, wrapping her arms around Delilah's waist. "Whatever you say."

Delilah didn't pay attention to Alex, as she kissed her neck. She kept her eyes on the hallway, hoping and praying that Ark would come soon.

* * *

><p>"Hehehe…" Bryan laced his fingers together, staring at the security cameras that he'd placed throughout the school to watch the show. He watched as Kane struggled outside with his Hellhound. And then Ark, who was being shoved against the locker at the moment. He shifted his gaze to the two in the classroom and his smile widened. "You should know, that this school is mine. I can do whatever I want."<p>

He brought his keyboard over and typed in something quickly into the small box next to the tabs he had opened. He brought the small box in which he written in and brought it over to the two in the classroom. "Forgive me. But it's unfair, you see. To leave you two alone." He pressed the enter button on the keyboard. And watched as the bright light took over the room.

"It's not so bad." He smirked into the screen. Knowing what will come out of this situation. "Don't worry. It'll be over very soon."

"Sir, don't you think this is going a little far?" Jeremy asked from behind. "Why are you bugging them intentionally when they have done nothing yet?"

"Dearest Jeremy, you must understand." Bryan turned in his seat, to face his assistant. "I am interested, you see. They must understand where they stand in this school. If I don't, then they will falter in their positions. And forget their place. So I must teach it to them."

Jeremy looked unsure about this, but didn't say anything. Bryan smirked and decided to make sure Jeremy was on his side. "Don't forget, Jeremy. They have a place of which you _should_ have had." Bryan placed a hand under his chin and lifted his face. Jeremy looked into Bryan's multi-colored eyes. "This is your chance."

His eyes widened and then he smiled. "Yes, sir." He whispered.

"Good boy." He released him and sat back in his seat. He turned back to the computer screen. "Now, sit and watch carefully, dearest Jeremy."

"I will, sir."

"Good. The show's just beginning."

* * *

><p>Nite saw the flash of light as the bullet hit the car nearby. She growled and skidded to a stop. She looked down the road at the man in the suit. He was aiming a gun at her? "You fucking dick." She muttered. "What an ass." She rolled her blue eyes and reached over, grasping her sniper. It was the only gun she carried and she didn't care. Whether it was a nearby target or a far one, it didn't matter.<p>

The sniper was a gift from her teacher. A kind woman, and a powerful woman. She told her that the sniper would protect her and whoever she was looking for. Kane and Ark. She spent her whole life using this, so she was quick when it came to reloading, she was a fine aim and could lift it easily. Like it was a hand gun. She really had no trouble with it.

She propped it up on the handle of the bike and aimed it at his head, clicking on the red dot. She rested her finger on the trigger. "Look, pal!" She called down the road, hearing people screaming and pointing at the showdown in the middle of the road. "I don't _want_ to shoot you." She told him. "But if you don't get your ass back in that car and drive away, I'm not afraid to do it."

"I can't let you leave." He called back calmly. "I was authorized to not allow you to leave."

"Well, I hate to break it to ya." She took in a breath. "But I have somewhere I need to be. People I have to see. So I ain't got time for this bullshit." She tightened her grip on the trigger until she felt the release of the bullet. The gun pushed against her, like it usually did. The guard fell as soon as the bullet found him. Everyone screamed. She lifted the sniper and hooked it back into place. Years of having this bike, using it like a nice transportation thing was nice.

She looked around the streets at the panicking people on the streets. "Sorry about that!" She called calmly and spun the bike around, skidding off down the road, once again. When she was further away, or further enough, she pulled her sleeve down and checked the time on her watch. "Fuck. It's almost midnight. It'll close soon if I don't hurry." She pressed down on the pedal, feeling the speed accelerate. She looked at the tools at her disposal. She ran her fingers over the switches and then grinned when she met the one she was looking for. She flipped it and instantly, she felt the speed of the bike flip to an even greater speed.

"Whoo!" She howled, grinning as she drove. She looked back, no cars yet. Maybe she outrun 'em? She doubted it. She doesn't think that Thomas sent more than one car. He definitely underestimated her.

She made a slight curve and turned her head, looking down a steep slope that led down into a neighborhood. And beyond that, she saw the border. It wasn't closed yet. She still had a chance. She wasn't intending on paying, of course, but she didn't want to worry about busting through the gates when they closed on midnight.

She reached one hand up and pulled on her goggles on over her eyes. "Can't be recognized." She smirked.

She spotted a few road workers. But in her mind, she saw a perfect ramp. She turned the bike handles and the bike thumped onto the sidewalk, the workers saw the light and looked back to see what it was. Their eyes widened when their hands raised to block the light. And they all staggered backwards, now frightened. She twisted the handle on her bike, causing the engine to growl even more. She grinned, feeling the adrenaline pick up in her veins. "Here we go!" She shouted as the bike flew into the air.

She soared through the air, straight over the truck and over the railing on the road. She started to drop. She lifted herself up, so it wouldn't hurt as much. She felt the harsh plop of the bike. She gritted her teeth and sat back down, sighing. "Ouch." She said under her breath and the sound of the humming motor. She looked up at the border. "Almost there."

She road straight through the neighborhood. She looked at a family of people having a party on their front lawn. The music was playing, but everyone was looking at Nite. She waved at them and grinned. _Can't help it. I'm a show off_. She thought as she drove past, further down the road. She took another sharp turn to the right, before finding herself right on the road of the border. But the guard was starting to close the gate. She gritted her teeth. "No!" She shouted and sped up, feeling like if she went any faster, she would fall faster forward, on the pavement. Even though she's pushed the limits before. She didn't enjoy doing it.

She aimed her bike to the opening that she know would be small by the time she arrived, but she had to do it. She leaned forward a little, watching as the space became smaller and smaller. The guard didn't even seem to notice, he had earplugs in his ears, by the looks of it.

Nite anticipated the space. She squeezed her shoulders in, closed her eyes tightly and zipped right through, hitting the gate on the way, but successfully making it through. She looked over her shoulder and sighed. The guard noticed her now, and was staring at her in awe. She smirked and turned back to the road.

"Later, England! I'm out!" She shouted, giving England a peace out sign above her head. She headed down the road, smirking to herself and feeling that victorious feeling. But she focused a little more when she remembered why she left.


	7. The Kiss

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 7:

The Kiss

"_Today's lesson: Cloning." Blackjack said, motioning his hand to the clearly written words on the board. "Cloning is a process done by very skilled people who were lucky enough to get DNA of anything they have tried to clone. Cloners, which we call them here, are able to imitate the hair particle or whatever they've collected in a skillful way." He stepped behind his desk, leaning onto it and pressing his hands into the surface. "Once they've done that, they are able to control the monster or person they cloned. And are able to use them and recreate them to their disposal."_

_ Sam raised his hand in the corner of the room. Blackjack nodded in his direction and he stood up, saluting Blackjack, before asking. "Is this an art we practice here in the Void?"_

_ "No." Blackjack said quickly. "Absolutely not. Cloning is a crime against both Olympus and here in the Void. Cloners, wherever they hide, are not welcome here or in Olympus. If you ever are to come across one, then you must exterminate them right away. Understood, class?" We all nodded, without asking any more questions. "Good." He said and looked at the clock on the wall. "We'll continue this lesson tomorrow, have a nice day."_

_ Everyone rose, without speaking and shuffled toward the doorway. I stood up last and looked up front at Blackjack, who was now erasing the blackboard, not noticing I was there. "Why is it a forbidden skill?"_

_ He froze and peaked over his shoulder, smirking. "It's always you, Gothard."_

_ "What?"_

_ "Every time I hear an unexpected voice or feel like someone is still in my room, wanting to ask questions, it's always you." He set down the eraser and walked around the desk, sitting on it. _

_ I shrugged, pulling my backpack onto my shoulder. "Kane has friends. He doesn't really care much for asking questions about things, like I do. Since I don't have friends." I shifted my gaze outside and saw Kane and Rurik down below, high fiving each other and grinning at each other. Along with a few others I didn't know too well. I looked back at my teacher. "Anyway, why? Why is it a forbidden skill?"_

_ "Well," he huffed, thinking of how to explain it, without confusing me. "Think of it this way. If we give the lesser the power to see what most cannot and also have the skill to copy the beasts that we use to tame them and keep them in line, what good would that do us? They'd probably end up fighting with us. And soon there'd be a war. And they could have the power to make their beasts stronger than ours."_

_ "So you're afraid of losing the throne." I guessed, not really asking it, but he nodded. "I see. But I've never heard of a Cloner before."_

_ "They aren't too popular. But when found, it is absolutely vital to dispose of them." He frowned a little and stood up from his desk. "They're a nuisance."_

_ "So they're really that bad, huh?" I sat down in the front desk of the classroom and leaned forward to let my head drop on the desk. I folded my arms around my head and stared up at Blackjack. "They don't seem so."_

_ Blackjack turned his back to me. "Perhaps to you. But if you ever come across one, Ark, you'll understand."_

_ "I'm sure." I chuckled and stood up from the desk, now grinning. "I'm hungry."  
><em>

_ He arched a dark brow at me. "And?"_

_ I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, Blackjack, quit being a stick in the mud. Let's get some food!"_

_ He chuckled, shaking his head. "Very well." He walked over to his jacket and draped it over his shoulders. "Where would you like to go then?"_

_ "Same place as usual." I grinned and grasped my uniform jacket from off the back of my own chair and lugged it on. "Hope the village didn't close yet."_

_ "They haven't." He said, fixing his sleeves so they were on tighter. "School just ended. Most of the students will be down there, with their friends around this time."_

_ I nodded. "Good. Let's go."_

* * *

><p>I hit the floor with a heavy thud. I heard Tundra falling across the floor, away from me. I groaned and looked over at the Hound. That was growling at me, snarling and foaming at the mouth. I rolled out of the way of its crushing weight when it slammed toward me. I reached out and managed to snatch Tundra up.<p>

It rushed toward me this time. I held up the blade and felt its weight crush down on it. I held it up with both hands, using every muscle in my body to hold it away from me as far as I could. But this thing weighed a TON!

"Jesus! Ever heard of weight watchers!?" I brought my leg up in between us and launched a powerful kick into its ribs, it cried out and stepped off of me, mostly forced from my kick. I stood up to my feet and brought the sword up in the Knight fighter stance.

The Hound snapped its jaws, scraping its claws across the floor, signaling that it was about to charge me. It reminded me of a bull. I bent my knees, prepared for its attack. It fired at me, like a bullet. It was quick and dodged, doing zig zags, jumping back and forth, I kept my eyes locked on it, but it was hard to follow. When it was right in front of me, it used its shoulder blade to knock me back.

The hit itself didn't look like much, but the force of it blasted me back into the door of the school, smashing through it and entering a classroom, smashing the desks in the process. I hit the wall, under the window, my back to the window, while I was facing the door, of which was now barely hanging on its hinges. I rubbed my now sore head and stood up from the floor. "Stupid pooch."

The Hound growled once again. The foam dripped from its mouth and its strangely hairs that were hanging on its near hairless body. It stepped into the threshold of the classroom, filling the room with its stench. Its red eyes were glowing with anger as it glared at me. I looked at the door next to me. It led into the next classroom. If I can get up quick enough, I can escape it for now and find Delilah. I shifted my eyes back to the beast. It snapped its jaws at me, as if daring me to try it.

I moistened my lips and swallowed. _On the count of three_. I thought. _One_… _two_… my leg muscles tensed up, ready for a run. I clenched my fist around Tundra and bent my knees, for an extra boost, toward the door. "Three!" I yelled and sprinted for the door. The Hound moved as well, going to stop me. I lifted Tundra in a quick motion toward the beast. It made contact when I heard its yelp. I didn't bother looking to what I had cut, my eyes were completely locked onto my target. I grasped the door handle and flung myself inside, slamming the door shut and turning and running, not even giving myself time to breath.

The Hound bashed at the door, I could hear the trembling of the door as it struggled to hold its ground against the strong beast. I sprinted through the door, into the hall and ran as fast as I could down the hall, looking back and forth for Delilah. I considered yelling her name out, but I knew it'd hear me and come after me if I did.

After a long run, I fell to my knees in the middle of the hall, dropping the sword next to me, hearing a loud clang. I gasped for air, shaking and trembling from the adrenaline rush. I looked over my shoulder to see if it had followed me possibly, but the coast was clear.

"Thank god." I whispered and turned back and immediately jumping back when I spotted a figure standing in front of me. I grabbed Tundra, but froze. "R-Rachel?"

She was giving me a confused look, hand on her hip, with her other hand holding onto a waterbottle. She arched a brow at me. "What's going on?"

I heard a bark not too far from where we were and shot to my feet, bringing Tundra with me. I grabbed Rachel's arm and ran into one of the classrooms. She followed me in, but still looked confused. "What was that sound?" She asked me.

I clamped my hand over her mouth and pushed her into the corner of the room. "Shh." I whispered to her and leaned back to see if I could see anything. To my luck, nothing. Yet. "Stay quiet, okay? They're here."

"They're?" She whispered to me, sounding worried now. "Who's they're?"

"Not enough time to explain." I whispered back. "Just stay here and don't move, don't speak." I ordered her. "I'll come back for you as soon as I chase it off. And if I don't come back, be careful, but try to find Delilah and get the hell out of here."

"Ark…"

I gave her a reassuring smile and headed for the door. When I was out in the hall, I headed away from the door that Rachel was hiding behind. Because if I stood there, guarding it, and it got inside that door, well, it wouldn't be pretty.

I came around the corner and felt a pair of arms wrap around from behind me. I couldn't fight back, because the arms were too strong. I felt the person lifting me up and dragged me into the classroom. I flailed my arms, trying to knock this person off. But I wasn't able to. When the door closed, the arms released me. I spun around, clutching Tundra. But I froze and my eyes widened.

* * *

><p>Kane rushed down the street, toward the beast. He lifted the sword behind his head and struck at the beast, it dived away from the blast and went to bite at Kane's leg, but he stepped away quickly and managed to swing the sword once again. The Hound yelped when the sword sliced through. He looked down at his sword and frowned.<p>

At the end of the sword, where he struck the Hound, he saw that there was weird glowing liquid at the end of it. He distinctly remembered the Hounds having black liquidy fluid running through their veins. So what the hell was this? He looked up at the beast. It was growling now.

"What are you?" He said out loud. This was no regular Hound. If at all. He went to strike again, before he heard a car squeeling to a stop next to him. He looked through the window and grinned. "Nova!"

Nova got out of the car and leaned on the roof of the car, looking across it at him. "What's up, Kane?"

He rolled his blue eyes at Nova and looked at the beast down the street from them. "Seriously?"

He grinned and looked more serious at the Hound. He cleared his throat. "Interesting." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Something is a little off here, isn't there?"

"What do you mean?" Kane asked. _He didn't even see the blood yet_.

"Look closer." He ordered.

Kane did and caught it. Did it just… flicker? It looked like an old image of a Hound and it was struggling to stay on. Kane looked over at Nova again. "What is it then?"

"I'm not sure." He stroked his chin. "It could be… but I've never seen one like this before." He paused, shaking his head at his own thoughts. "We'll deal with that later. Right now, let's worry about killing it."

Kane nodded. "Right."

The Hound growled and eyed the two, like it was irritated that they were talking and leaving it out of the conversation. Kane tensed up, preparing to attack, but Nova said. "Hold it."

"What?"

"Let's not jump into it." He said, simply, getting back into his car. Kane bent down into the window and gave him a confused look. Nova unrolled the window and said. "Yes?"

"What do you mean yes?!" He ran a hand through his newly cut hair. "There's an _obvious_ problem here, Nova!"

"I have a hunch." Was all he said, which made Kane only more confused. "Get in." He ordered.

Kane did as he was told and got into the passenger seat, closing the door tightly behind him. Nova sped off, nearly not missing the Hound on the way. It barked at the passing car and ran after it. Nova shifted the rear view mirror so it was aimed on the dog behind them. He narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "Fascinating."

"What is?"

"Well, a normal Hound wouldn't have been so agreeable to chase after a car. Especially since so many other of us are inside the building. It could have gone for them. But instead it comes for us." He shook his head, shifting his gaze from the road and the mirror constantly. "How odd."

"Yeah, check this out." He lifted the blade up for Nova to see, showing him the oozing, weird, glowing blood. "When I slashed at it, this was the result. That's not normal, right?"

Nova tensed in his seat when he saw the blood. "Definitely not." He huffed. "Dammit." He swore.

Kane leaned his head out the window, looking back at the Hound. It was fast. Kane spotted another flicker in the leg. "Where are we going?"

"I have another idea." Nova said and took a harsh turn, causing Kane to almost slip through the window. "If my assumption is right, then this should work."

He kept driving down the single straight road. Kane was wondering how this was supposed to be losing the Hound if they weren't doing anything fancy. But he didn't ask. Especially when Nova started his countdown. "Five…" he was counting in a low voice, and it concerned Kane. "Four…" Kane turned to look at him, frowning slightly. "Three…" he continued, giving the road a completely concentrated look. "Two…" his eyes flicked over to the rear view mirror. "One." He skidded to a stop so hard that the car spun around to face the Hound.

Cars around them honked and stopped harshly, giving them the finger and cursing at them. They drove around them, Kane and Nova ignored them and watched as the Hound ran. Kane looked at Nova. "What are you doing?!" He yelled.

Nova held up his hand like he was trying to listen to something.

The Hound bounded closer, Kane squeezed his eyes shut when he thought it was too late to get out of the way. "We are _so_ dead!" He yelled and held up his hands to guard his face. But nothing happened. He took in a few seconds to gather himself before forcing his eyes open to take a look.

To his surprise, the Hound was just standing there, growling, and looming above the car. It roared, shooting foam and spit onto the windshield. Nova sighed and nodded his head. "As expected." He said. "The connection doesn't go that far."

"W-what?" Kane managed, trying to calm his fast beating heart. He could have sworn he was going to die.

He smirked over at Kane, sitting back in his seat. "I thought it was odd. The Hound was acting strangely. So I figured I'd test it. And I was right. There is a connection. He can't get to us. We're too far." Nova stepped out of the car and Kane followed. They walked toward the beast, Kane was hesitant, but Nova didn't see any threat, since it couldn't reach past the boundary, and if it tried, it would fade away. "See? We're safe."

"But what does this mean?"

He looked at Kane. "It means that we have a potential Cloner on our hands."

* * *

><p>"Run!" Delilah ordered. They ran through the school, hand-in-hand. Alex followed Delilah's orders, even though she felt like she was going to hyperventilate. She looked back at the monster that was following them and she felt her heart thud hard against her chest. She followed Delilah as told to do. Delilah was the only thing she could find to keep her moving.<p>

They found the exit, leading to the back of the school and ran outside together. They turned back to the school, gasping and reaching for air. "What the hell was that?!" Alex asked Delilah, turning to her.

"I can't really explain right now." She said honestly. She really _couldn't_. Right now was not the best time to explain that she met two weirdo's, one of which she seriously was crushing on, and took them in. And they ended up being involved with some dangerous shit and soon, she was dragged into it as well. "Just follow me."

She ran toward the track, where she knew Rachel would be. When she came to the gate, she looked around the track. Alex just waited behind Delilah, obviously still very confused and somewhat scared. She stared at the blonde girl, who was just a little shorter than her. She would feel better about being with her and holding her hand like this, if they weren't just chased down by some weird looking dog thing.

"Dammit!" She smacked her fist into the top of the fence, causing it to shutter. "She's not here. Where did she go?" Delilah's eyes suddenly widened and she spun around, looking back at the school. "You fucking idiot! You didn't!" She looked at Alex. "Stay here."

"What?!" She shook her head. She was not about to leave Delilah with _those_ things around. "Hell no!"

"Alex, I don't want you to get hurt." Delilah went to walk away, but Alex tugged her back, leaning down quickly and kissing Delilah. She knew right now wasn't the best time for a kiss, but she needed a way to stop her. Anything would do, if she just stopped for a moment. Delilah didn't fight it, she liked it, like before, however, she still wished Alex was someone else. When Alex pulled away, Delilah smiled. "It's all right. Just stay."

"No." Alex denied again, grasping her hand. "I'm not going to leave you."

She sighed, knowing that Alex was much stubborn that she thought. "You know, you're full of surprises." She looked back at the school. "All right. But you stay close, don't go wandering off and most certainly always listen to what I say."

She nodded, relieved that Delilah was such a push over. "Yes, ma'am."

Rachel stayed in the corner, like Ark had told her to do, but waiting like this, listening for anything and trying to calm her quickly beating heart like this was horrific. She hated every second of it. She just wanted to go somewhere! Do _something_! She picked herself up off the ground and quietly walked over to the door.

She stepped into the hall, looking around. But not seeing anything. Not even Ark. She was alone. She lifted her hand to call for Ark, but stopped herself, feeling like it would be really bad if she did that. She lowered her hand and released the breath she was going to use to call out. She looked around the hall, before walking slowly down the hall, in the opposite direction she saw Ark go. She first wanted to make it outside of the school and see if anyone else was here that she could consult to. Maybe Kane was still here. If she was lucky. She could use his help to find Ark.

Luckily, as if on cue, she heard the doors slamming open. And a few seconds later, saw Kane and his fatherly figure, Nova, coming up the steps, onto the second floor. Kane looked up and met Rachel's eyes. She couldn't help but smile. Kane ran towards her, Rachel ran toward her as well, too happy to care that she had a huge crush on him.

Kane opened his arms. Rachel accepted his embrace and they held each other for just a moment. "You okay?" Kane asked her, in her ear, making her shiver.

"Yeah." She whispered back, fighting to bury her face in his neck. "But I don't know where Ark went. She was there with me, but then she… went off and didn't come back."

Kane's back tensed and his shoulders, Rachel felt it. She pulled away, looking into his blue eyes. "It's all right." She promised, trying to sound calm. "We'll find her."

"Indeed." Nova said, stepping beside them, without looking at them. He was too serious to tease them today. He looked down the hall, with a deathly glare on his face. "Keep your guard up. There is a Cloner here. I will find them. And you two… come with me. You're gonna help me." He ordered, not giving them much of a choice.

They followed behind Nova as he quickly walked through the halls, they had to jog to keep up, despite him just walking. He had long legs, so it was rough. Kane had his hand wrapped around Rachel's, to keep her near. She tried hard not to pay so much attention to her hand, but more to Nova's words as he spoke.

"Let's see if we can find Ark and Delilah. Hopefully, they're all right. Once we gather everyone, we'll hunt this Cloner down and see if we can–" before he could finish, a Hound blocked their path. All of them jumped and tensed up when they saw it.

"The Cloner has brought another one out." Nova sighed, and turned his gaze up. His eyes met immediately with a camera hiding in the corner and his eyes narrowed, knowing the Cloner was on the other side. "Seems he's watching us. He knows where we are and he's trying to stop us."

"You're not gonna stop me from finding my sister." Kane growled, releasing Rachel's hand and grabbing the sword from his other hand. He aimed it at the beast. "Move it." He ordered.

The dog barked and growled, threatening Kane. Nova held up his hand to stop Kane. He smirked and pushed his glasses up his nose. He walked toward the Hound, calmly. It snarled at Nova and snapped its jaws. When Nova was standing in front of the beast, it growled again, like it was going to attack, but it didn't. He looked over his shoulder at Kane and Rachel. "The Cloner's intentions aren't to harm us." He looked back to the camera. "Is it possible he is just conducting experiments?"

The Hound stopped growling and stepped aside, bowing his head, like it was apologizing to Nova for threatening him. Kane and Rachel walked with Nova, past the Hound. But they kept eyeing the beast. It growled at them, but still didn't move.

"Let's continue." Nova said calmly.

It wasn't long before they finally spotted Delilah and some girl. Rachel recognized her, but had no clue what _she_ was doing with Delilah. She thought it was odd, last she checked, they hated each other. However, she didn't say anything as they regrouped. She ignored Alex, aka Miss Priss, and wrapped her arms around Delilah, thankful to see her in one piece.

Delilah pulled away and looked at Kane and Nova. "Have you found Ark yet?"

"No." Kane sighed, he looked worried. He was tense the whole time they were walking through the school. "We all have to look for her."

"Yeah, let's go." Delilah nodded, she gave a determined look.

Together all five of them ran through the school halls, not minding the Cloner and his possy, they began to yell out Ark's name. "Ark!" They all shouted, cupping their hands around their mouths. Even Alex was shouting her name, looking for her. "Ark! Ark!"

No response, the school was quiet. It seemed that Ark had just vanished. Worry fell over both Ark and Delilah. Sure, everyone else was worried too, but Delilah and Kane were the most worried. Delilah wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but she did in her head.

_Ark… please, please… come back_… Delilah thought.

Then they all froze when they heard a bark behind them. Kane huffed when they spotted the Hound standing at the end of the hall, he lifted the sword onto his shoulder. "Another Clone?"

Nova shook his head, he looked worried this time. Which ultimately worried everyone else as well. "This ones real." He whispered.

"Son of a bitch." Kane cursed, dropping the sword, to a fighting position. He held it with both hands, aiming the tip onto the Hound. "We don't have time for this."

Another bark from behind. They all looked over their shoulders, spotting another one. Nova confirmed that this one was also real. "We must have stirred them up with all the fighting and activity we've been having." Nova grit his teeth. "You three." He pointed at Delilah, Rachel and Alex. "Get to the side. We can't have you three getting hurt."

Delilah grabbed both of their arms and pulled them to the side, so they were standing in the doorway of the classroom, out of the way. Delilah stepped in front of both of them, oddly taking the calm and leadership part of the situation.

"Kane, be prepared. It's gonna get rough." Nova warned him.

"I'm always ready." The Hounds launched themselves, Nova and Kane readied themselves. But just before anything could happen, a black flash stopped the Hound that was about to attack Kane. Kane's eyes got wide when the black flash became visible. "Blackjack!"

Blackjack held back the Hellhound with one single hand on its snout, it yelped and pleaded with Blackjack to release him, but Blackjack did no such thing. He stared at the beast with hateful eyes and did something that shocked everybody. He lifted it up by its snout and flung it toward the window. It crashed through the glass and toppled down, all the way to the ground. He dusted his hands off and turned around to look at his frozen student. "Hello, Kane."

The second Hellhound suddenly began to howl and then growl. But something came barreling through the ceiling, smashing right into the Hound. When everything calmed, everyone turned their attention to Ark, who was slowly rising from the dust from the debris. The dust cleared away and everyone saw the whimpering Hellhound at her feet. Her blade was laced with the black liquidy substance that the Hellhounds called blood. She placed the hand that wasn't holding anything on her hip. "Hey, guys." She smirked.

Kane dropped his sword and ran over to her. "You little bastard!" He yelled and tackled her into a hug. "You scared the shit outta me." He mumbled, laying his head on her shoulder. Ark hugged him back, still holding onto her sword. She patted his back and grinned.

"Sorry, sorry." She said it like it was no big deal. "I wasn't exactly expecting to be kidnapped by my own teacher."

Blackjack huffed, rolling his dark red eyes. "Don't blame it on me, Ark. You've neglected your senses since the last time I saw you."

"I have not!" She protested, but didn't sound like she was mad. They seemed to be on friendly terms with one another, despite them being teacher and a student. "You're delirious."

Blackjack pulled off one glove off of his hand and placed his now bare, pale hand to the wall. When his hand touched the wall, Delilah, Rachel and Alex all saw the markings creeping up his pale arm and trickled onto the back of his hand. A weird flower-like design. He closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them. His eyes were glowing red now. He looked around the school hall like he could see something that was bugging him. Then his eyes fell on one spot and he smirked. "Gotcha." He moved his hand off of the wall and looked back at us. "Follow me. I found the Cloner."

Everyone, including the three that didn't even know the guy, followed. Blackjack led the way toward the Cloner's hideout, knowing where he was at all times. No way was he escaping them.

"My, my." Bryan said, sitting back and watching the security cameras he had installed in the school. "Seems the poor Cloner has been caught."

"Sir, shouldn't we leave?" Jeremy asked, sounding a little worried himself. He looked at the door, expecting it to burst open at any minute. "They're gonna be here any second and we can't fight them."

"Hm… perhaps you're right." Bryan wasn't scared at all really. He's dealt with people like this before. And to him, they were all just little toys to play with when he was bored. Or when he was curious. "But let's wait and see what they have planned. Seems that the Gothards had more allies than even I was anticipating. I'm quite pleased with them."

Jeremy raised his eyebrows in shock. _So they_ did_ get the drop on Bryan_. He thought and looked at the security camera of their group heading this way. _Impressive. Nobody ever surprised Bryan_. "What's your plan?"

"I'd like to see what they have to say. Their reactions are what I'm really aiming for anyway. I wasn't expecting to hide in here and not be found out sooner or later." He sat back in his seat, very relaxed. He pushed his glasses up and trained his silver eye on the door, waiting for them to come busting in. The stupid one would probably threaten him some more, but it didn't matter to him. He wasn't scared.

I saw it. Before Blackjack had even announced that it was the Cloner's nest, I knew it was. And I felt the steam roll out of my ears in anger. _That little prick_… I thought. I walked ahead of everyone, stomping toward the door. I growled as I got closer. I lifted my leg up and slammed it into the door, the door came flying open. I had my sword still in hand when I walked in.

"You. Little. Dick!" I would have cut him up right then and there, but Kane was always calm, so he grabbed my from behind, before I could go after the little punk.

Bryan smirked from behind the computer, just like last time. "Good to see you again."

"Save it, you fucking lunatic!" I growled, fighting against Kane's grip.

"Bryan Romero?" That girl from before, Alex I think was her name, said. She was standing next to Delilah (surprise, surprise), she was standing really close next to her. And then the events from earlier caught on in my head and I looked away. "The comuter nerd did this?"

"You underestimate the importance of technology, Alex." Bryan was calm about this whole situation, while his assistant Jeremy was cowering in the corner. "I am able to raise a whole army before you."

"Sure, if the connection reached." Kane barked over my shoulder, still holding me back from pounding his smug face in. Bryan lost his cool composer and looked at Kane. "That's right, we know about the connection. And we know it wouldn't even reach that far, so save your breath."

He shrugged. "Ah, well. I can always expand the cables." He chuckled and turned his silver eye onto the man in the black. And he instantly recognized him. "Blackjack." He said, calmly. Everyone turned their eyes to the man in the black as he stepped inside the room. "Good to see you."

"Cut the chatter, Cloner." Blackjack frowned deeply down at Bryan, who just enjoyed his calm demeanor. He knew that Blackjack was going to be this way. "I'm not interested in anything else you have to say for yourself."

"You're going to arrest me?"

"That is correct."

He laughed and stood up from his seat. He made a "tsk, tsk" sound and shook his head slightly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Blackjack raised a brow, and allowed the Cloner to continue on with his explanation. He picked up his phone from the desk and flipped through the contacts until he found the one he was looking for and held it up for Blackjack to see. When he saw the name, Bryan saw the reaction he wanted, shock. "I know all about Nite. And her…" he looked over at Kane and Ark, who were watching curiously. "Objective."

"You will _not _speak of this to them." Blackjack whispered violently to Bryan, who was now looking as smug as ever. The great Blackjack was telling him what to do. It was almost laughable, considering he had the upper hand here. "I will let you go, just don't speak of it."

"That's a good boy." He closed the phone and set it back down. "I'm glad we understand each other. Be careful, Blackjack, I'm capable of many other things than this. Today was just a taste." He leaned forward on the desk, so his face was just inches away from Blackjack's. "I've spoken with Nite. She's a friend of mine, you might say. I do her favors, she does me favors. It's sort of a… you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours kind of deal. You know?"

"Where are you going with this?" Blackjack demanded, eyes narrowing.

"So impatient." He grumbled. "Where I'm goinw tiht this is that if you step out of line, I will tell them everything that happened with Nite." He leaned forward and whispered the last bit into her ear. "She told me _every single_ detail."

Blackjack moved away from Bryan, gaining his calm composer yet again and turning back to his little team. "Today, we are going to let this Cloner go."

"What?!" Ark shouted, pushing against Kane's arm, which was wrapped around her neck to keep her from running over to Bryan and slamming his head into the desk drawer. "Why?!"

Blackjack ignored Ark as he walked out of the class, past everyone else and walked down the hall. Nova stared after his friend and then looked back at Bryan, who was sitting in his seat, smirking. Nova suspected foul play, but he didn't call it. Instead, he went after his friend down the hall, while everyone else tried to calm Ark down.

"Blackjack." Nova said, causing his old friend to stop in his tracks and turn his head slightly, but not enough to look at Nova. "What was that? You had everything you could have to arrest him. Witnesses, proof… it was all there. So why?"

Blackjack was silent for a while, his head turned straight ahead again. Nova thought he was going to walk away, but instead, he said. "He would have told them about Nite."

_Nite?_ Nova couldn't remember the name for a moment, then it came flooding back into his mind and his eyes widened. "How does he even know about it?"

"He and Nite are friends." Blackjack said, still not looking at Nova. "I can't allow them to know. And you know why."

"The prophecy." Nova guessed.

Blackjack just nodded, without saying anything else further.

The whole group just decided to go to Nova's house to straighten things out and explain some things to the confused girl, Alex. And get some people patched up from being hurt. Plus, Rachel and Delilah were worried about Kane and Ark. Ark seemed to be okay, besides a few cuts and bruises. But her arm needed to be rebandaged.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the house, Nova took Ark into the back room, where he had his medical kit and things. Kane took the three girls, plus Blackjack, into the living room to calm everyone down.<p>

Everyone sat down and started talking all at once. Blackjack just stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest and his mind elsewhere. It had been almost a month since he'd last seen his two favourite students. Okay, well, Kane was a nice boy and all, but his top favourite would have to be Ark. All the time they spent together back when they were both stuck in the Void couldn't be ignored.

Blackjack was thankful to the gods when he found Ark. But he had to admit, seeing the bandage on her made him a little nauseous. He had thought she was bitten by the Hound. If that was the case, then she was going to die. There was no cure for it. It was like contracting rabies. And then the poison took over, killing them slowly and painfully. He'd seen it happen once before.

Luckily, however, the effects of the bite are almost immediate. Though, they don't go into a frenzy at first, they _do_ however, start to get weak. And then sick. Ark showed no signs of being bitten and it didn't seem like the wound was that early. It looked more like an old wound. Blackjack was relieved.

_Nova's good_. Blackjack thought as he peaked to the door of the backroom. It was open just a little, so he could catch a glimpse of Nova and Ark. They were talking, apparently about something rather serious, but of course, Blackjack couldn't hear it. He could if he wanted to, but decided it might be better if he didn't hear about the wound. _He_ would take it worse than Ark would.

After a while, the four of the kids had finally calmed down and they all began to talk about normal things that any group of kids would. Blackjack looked at the modern house. How many times has Nova had to replace this house with a newer version? Probably a lot. He's been around for centuries. And has had this house for as long as he could remember. He wanted to blend in with the crowd, even though he saw the new generation come and go often.

It wasn't long before Ark and Nova came back again. Blackjack leaned off of the wall and took a long look at Ark. She didn't look any different than when he saw her at the ceremony to become immortal. Although he was glad he would never have to witness her death from any kind of natural cause, and with his help no unnatural ones either, but he also felt bad. Now she would have to endure all the pain of having any kind of friends slowly deteriorate away. Until they finally died.

Blackjack new that pain and didn't want Ark to feel it too. But he didn't know what was worse. Seeing her in pain or seeing her die.

Blackjack's eyes shifted to the bandage. "How is it?" He asked.

Ark shrugged. "Nova says it'll be fine. I don't think I'll die."

He reached his hand out and grasped her arm carefully, she winced as he brought her arm up. He examined the wound for a while, looking through the bandages at the wound itself. Three holes on her arm. They were stitched up now, the cut was deep. And just barely missed her bones. He looked back up at Ark. "I'm glad you didn't hurt yourself too badly."

"Yeah, me too." She said trying not to sound as pained as she felt.

"Try not to get yourself into anymore trouble like that, okay?" He said, as he lowered her arm carefully to her side and then reached up and touched her face. "It scares me."

Ark chuckled, but leaned into his hand. "I missed you, teach."

"As did I."

Delilah glared at the two in the corner. _Isn't this teacher guy getting a little too touchy feely with his student?_ She wondered, trying not to stare so much. Ugh, she wanted to punch this guys lights out. Ark was his student after all. And well… she was jealous. She always wanted to do that. And touch Ark like it was nothing. She wondered how many times they've touched to be able to be so natural like that.

Blackjack lowered his hand and offered a smile to his student. "Now, then." He looked to the rest of the group. "I'm assuming the blonde one and the red haired one is Delilah Fortune and Rachel Grove?"

They both nodded. Blackjack wondered why the blonde haired one was giving him such an evil glare. But he didn't question it out loud. He looked at the girl on the end of the couch, next to the blonde. "And you are?"

"Alex Maine, sir." She said as politely as possible.

"She sees 'em just like us." Delilah jumped in, happy to cut off the touchy teacher.

Alex smiled at Delilah, feeling warm and fuzzy when she defended her straight away. _She's so dreamy._

"Yes," Blackjack answered, slowly taking his eyes off of the fuming blonde and went to Kane. "Do you trust them, Kane?"

He nodded. "Yeah. They helped us out a lot when we first got out. Took us in, fed us, gave us a place to stay, new clothes. They're cool." He answered honestly, making Rachel blush.

_I'm sensing a lot of… odd feelings swarming this place_. Blackjack thought, scanning their faces once more before looking back at Ark, his favourite student and his friend. "And Ark?"

Ark looked over at the three of them. She hadn't known Alex very long, but she seemed okay. She_ really_ likes Delilah. _Maybe a little_ too _much_. She added and then erased that thought. "They're good, teach. No need to worry so much."

"I worry for your safety." He smiled and made Ark smile back.

Delilah groaned and stood up. "Are we done with all this lovey dovey garbage?" She snapped, tearing Blackjack's eyes away and turning it on her. He was not used to such rude behavior toward him like this. But even when he shot her a glare, she still didn't back down. "Save it, dude. I'm not one of your students."

"Ahahaha…" Ark nervously laughed and came around to Delilah.

"D-Delilah, what's up with you?" She asked quietly, so nobody else would hear her. "You're acting strange today."

"No, I'm not." She lied. She knew she was acting odd. Still, she didn't care. "Look, just back up. Go back to being your teachers pet and leave me out of it."

Ark stared at her, shocked. "You've never been _this_ rude to me." Then she peaked over at Alex, who was still sitting on the couch. "Does it have anything to do with her?"

Delilah shot her a glare. She could tell by the look on Ark's face that she regretted bringing it up. "So you _did_ see something."

"I, uh…"

Blackjack stepped up and walked behind Ark, pulling her away from the rude girl, giving her a dirty look as he did so. "Ark, I think we need to go practice."

_What a fucking dick_. She thought watching them go. _Hell, no_. _Ain't ending here_. She turned her eyes on Alex. "You!" She pointed at her. "You're coming with me."

Alex wasn't going to fight it. She stood up and ran over to her like a puppy dog. "Yes, ma'am." She said happily.

Kane looked at Rachel, who looked just as confused. "U-um…" Kane stood up and held out his hand. "Guess we're going with them." Rachel took his hand and they walked with them, following Blackjack.

Nova leaned into the doorway, watching all of them leave. He scratched his head. "Humans are certainly jealous creatures."

I zipped up the suit and walked to the end of the matt, grasping a wooden staff and facing my opponent, Blackjack. Who wasn't wearing a zip suit. Nor was he carrying a staff. No, he just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for me.

"Uh, Blackjack? Shouldn't you wear something to protect yourself?" I asked, now a little less confident than before.

"Don't worry about me, Ark. You just focus on hitting me." He said.

"Um, if you say so." I looked over at my audience. Kane and Rachel were standing in the doorway, watching me. Were they holding hands?

Then there was Alex and Delilah. Delilah was glaring at me. And Alex was admiring Delilah. I quickly looked away, so I wouldn't get distracted. Plus, Delilah kinda scared me when she was glaring.

Blackjack nodded for me to come. So I did. I ran forth, putting all my body into my movements to make the blow harder. I swung the wooden staff, but it went right through the air. I felt someone behind me, so I went for a swing, but the presence was gone before I could even get there.

"You're too slow." Blackjack called from all the way across the room behind me. I looked back and grinned.

"Oh, you're stupidly fast." I called back to him.

"That too." He smirked. He walked toward me, I could tell he was about to tell me something, not try to fight me, so I relaxed. He came up behind me, grasping my arm that held the wooden staff. "You're focusing too much on strength. Depending too much on your strength isn't very effective when you're as slow as a snail on a melting stick of butter."

From over in the corner, Delilah was steaming red. She was so incredibly angry with this stupid teacher of Ark's. He's way too touchy feely with her! _Fine. You wanna play those games, eh?_ She looked over at Alex and smirked. "Alex, did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?" She asked, placing a hand on her thigh.

Alex's eyes gleamed with happiness. "You could tell me again!"

Blackjack caught onto her claim of war. And looked at Ark. _Ah, so she's jealous. She has feelings for Ark, then?_ He wondered. Very well, if that's how you want it. He slipped his arms around Ark and squeezed. "You'll get it eventually." He whispered. Causing Ark to get stiff. "I'll be here with you."

When Blackjack and Delilah locked eyes, it was obvious, they were having as stare down. However, the only people that caught on were Nova, Rachel and Kane. Who each exchanged looks nervously.

Delilah turned to Alex, completely enraged. She grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her close, wrapping her other arm around her, so Alex was sitting against her, snuggling.

"Isn't this more comfortable?" She whispered to Alex. Who was now as red as a tomato, but smiling widely.

Blackjack narrowed his eyes and turned back to Ark. He ran his hands down her arms and placed them over her hands. He pressed his chin into her shoulder and buried his face in her neck. Ark went completely red.

"B-Blackjack? What are you doing?"

He didn't answer as he waited for Delilah's next move. She growled at the look on his face. But she could do something that she knew he couldn't. At least, she thinks. She turned Alex's chin toward her and leaned. Alex's eyes widened, along with the three in the doorway.

Everyone watched as Delilah pressed her mouth to Alex's. Alex stiffened for a moment, then responded back. Rachel's jaw dropped. Kane and Nova didn't know this girl, they didn't know Delilah and hers history. They had no idea that they once loathed each other's mere presence. Now they were kissing?! What the hell is going on?!

Blackjack's eyes widened. He looked at Ark, who was now red-faced, seeing Delilah and Alex in the corner of the room. His eyebrow quirked. Is he really going to kiss his student? He wasn't like any teacher, inside and out. His looks made him look only seventeen. He didn't have any blemishes and his skin was incredibly pale. He had that smile that made the girls swoon and the masculine body to make the guys jealous. He could easily pass off as a seventeen-year-old.

After all, that was the day he turned immortal. When he turned seventeen. In a way, he never turned eighteen. But also, he kind of did. Technically, he was over one hundred. But he lost count after he turned twenty, not caring about age anymore.

His eyes locked on Ark's face. It was true, Ark had become a good friend. She was his favourite student, although he'd never admit that out loud. And Ark was one of the rays of light in his life. In his dark life, spent living in the Void. But a kiss? Was he really that engrossed in Ark?

Ark was a beauty. No doubt, he had admitted that on her ceremony. But he never expected her to grow up into someone like this. Sure, she was an idiot at times and sometimes her anger got the best of her, but that only made her more charming.

Blackjack froze for a moment, pondering this. _No, I am not in love with you, Ark_. He thought, loosening his grip. He looked back up at Delilah. Who had one eye opened to watch Blackjack. _However, I don't lose_. He spun Ark around and bent his head down. Everyones gazes turned away from Delilah and Alex, to Blackjack and Ark in the center of the room. They all gasped when they saw it.

Blackjack's lips were against Ark's. He didn't feel any special kind of breakthrough, his heart wasn't even beating quickly. _No, this is a mere game_. He thought and then pulled away, looking across the room at Delilah. She had stopped kissing Alex to see this happen before her eyes. And she did _not_ look happy.

Blackjack smirked. "Looks like I won." He said over to her.

She growled and got up to say something, but he yelped and was tossed backwards across the matt, she stopped, anger vanishing when she saw Ark was holding out her wooden staff in protest. She looked even more pissed off.

"You asshole!" She shouted, watching as Blackjack picked his torso off the ground to look at his student with wide and now surprised eyes. "You don't take someones first kiss like that!"

"Your… first…" Blackjack studdered in amazement when he realized what he'd done. And then he pursed his lips together, now feeling very guilty of his foolish actions. And for what? To win a game against some girl he didn't even know? That is stupid. Very stupid.

Kane even looked mad. The protective brother side of him was marching toward the center of the matt. He stood next to Ark. "Keep your hands off my sis, teach!"

Blackjack looked in between them. Recalling their little selves glaring at him for being too hard on them. And now they were glaring at him for kissing his student._ I am truly an idiot_. "I apologize."

Ark's face was still red. She threw the wooden staff to the floor, causing it to clatter onto the tile flooring when it rolled off the matt. She turned her back to him, now facing the four who were watching from the other side. She reached up and grasped the suit, completely and utterly infuriated. She ripped it in two, knowing the strength only came to her at her most vulnerable and uncontrollable moments.

"Where are you going?" Kane called to her as she stomped away.

She didn't turn around as she said: "Anywhere but here!" She yelled back, before slamming the door so hard the other wooden staffs that were lined up on the rack went tumbling off, onto the floor, filling the room with clanks and bangs.

* * *

><p>Dammit! I'm so pissed!<p>

It wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't my teacher, he actually meant it, and… well, IF HE WASN'T A BOY! Jeez! I didn't want my first kiss to be because someone was competing. Plus, I'm a hopeless romantic. So I always wanted it to be near a lake, at sunset. When we were alone. Surrounded by nature. Not on a goddamn matt!

I sighed and went to go head up the steps, to calm down. When I heard a knock on the door. I rolled my eyes and turned to the door, walking toward it. "Coming!" I yelled, when I heard another knock. I stepped behind the door and grasped the knob, twisting it and pulling it open.

There she stood, a girl with white hair, it was cut kind of short. She had a backpack over her shoulders and she was wearing an odd army-like, black jacket over a pair of tinted blue jeans that were ripped at the knees. She had a pair of orange goggles on her head. I spotted a knife that was strapped to her leg. And then in the road, near the house, was a motorcycle, with a large gun attached to it.

"Yes?" I said, lifting a brow.

The girl smiled, suddenly. She stepped into my… bubble. Wrapping her arms around me, completely ignoring my personal space warning. She trembled when she brought me closer. "You're here!" She nearly gasped. I stood, rigid and surprised.

She didn't feel… like she was foreign. The way she hugged me, the way she felt, it all felt so familiar. It felt so familiar that my eyes actually began to tear up. _What's with me?_ I asked myself. Before I could even figrue out what was happening, I lifted my own arms slowly. My fingers twitched when I slipped them around her, allowing myself to bring them behind her backpack and squeeze her back, into me.

Her body eased up when she felt my arms around her as well. "I was looking for so long…" she whispered into my ear, her voice was thick with emotion. Was she crying? She buried her face into my shoulder. "I finally found you."

I didn't trust my voice to work, so I kept my mouth shut as I listened to her. She pulled away, but not too far. She smiled down at me, she was a little taller than me. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

I shook my head.

Her smile returned and it gave a weird, home kind of feeling. It was warm and gentle. And it made me want to snuggle against her. "My names Nite. Nite Gothard."

**0.0**

** I hope you're not mad that it took a second for me to update this. I was a little distracted, reading other peoples' fanfictions. (Siren of the Sea, by Shayp. EXTREMELY GOOD. I highly recommend it.) Anyway, so I got this out and I hope to get the next chapter out soon. However, I have school, (ugh), and it'll be a little hard to get to it, since exams are coming up very soon, which means… STUDY HALL! Yay… **

** :D Anyway, I'll cut it here, so you won't have to hear me… read me?… babble anymore. See y'all later! I'll be back soon with more content! **

**-ComicalFace**


	8. Blue Eyes or Brown Eyes?

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 8:

Blue Eyes or Brown Eyes?

_I spotted Blackjack hanging around the Hall of Hades. He was pacing around the snowy ground, rubbing his hands together. The years of living in this snowy place has brought him almost immune to this kind of whether. I didn't suspect that he was pacing this area because he was cold, but he looked more nervous than anything. _

_ Eve was with me. We had just arrived back from the village that Hades created for the students pleasure. He wasn't as heartless as everyone made him out to be. Anyway, we had just arrived back from the village and we were heading back to the Dorm building, but we caught sight of Blackjack and froze, we exchanged looks. We were both curious and headed toward him, to see what was up. _

_ He looked up and looked like he was relieved to see us. Then he quickly erased that look and said in a more firm voice. "Children. What are you doing out here past eight?"_

_ "We went to the village." I said, pointing back to the small town at the slope of the hill, where our campus was sitting. I looked at Eve, who was nodding along with my claim. "We were just coming back. What's up?"_

_ "Nothing you need to be concerned about." He turned his eyes back to the front door of Hades' Hall. He shifted uncomfortably onto one side. "You may go back to your Dorms."_

_ "Gee, we'd love to," I said sarcastically, feeling Blackjack's sharp gaze on me once again. "But we're scared you might faint if you pace anymore." I joked, but when he gave me another look, I quickly shut up. _

_ "You two shouldn't be out here." He said. "You'll get in trouble." _

_ "Don't worry about us." Eve said, walking toward him. She grasped his hand. "We're pretty sneaky."_

_ He eyed her, but said nothing. He nodded and sighed. "It's about the ceremony."_

_ "Ceremony?" I asked. _

_ "The Ceremony of Immortality." He looked back at the doors of Hades Hall and swallowed. I could see obvious fear and anger in his eyes and got worried myself. "Hades says that when you kids turn eighteen, you'll be gifted by immortality." _

_ "Whoa!" I jumped with glee, eyes gleaming with joy. "Seriously? That's awesome!"_

_ Blackjack turned to me, I could tell he didn't agree with me. "It's not as grand as you think it is, Ark. Watching all of your loved ones… die." His face darkened and Eve and I exchanged looks. _

_ "S-sorry." God, I'm such an idiot. _

_ "Don't apologize." He bowed to me suddenly. I blinked. "I should be the one to apologize."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "The only family member that you know of is Kane. And he'll be immortal as well." He stood back up straight and sighed, releasing a cloud of mist from in between his lips. "I'm terribly sorry."_

_ I held up my hands and shook my head. To be honest, the memory of my mother is… foggy. And I can't even recall who my father was. Nor do I care. Kane and I will be together and I'll make sure he survives whatever comes our way. And it looks like I'll be doing that for the next… forever, actually. "No, no. It's cool. Really." I looked at the doors and tilted my head a little. "So why are you out here then?"_

_ "I am awaiting our Lord. He's asked for me to come. We need to discuss the Ceremony preparations. And which of you students will be gifted and which ones will not." He ran a hand through his black hair and straightened his cloak. "Eve, Ark."_

_ We both jumped at the sounds of our names, so used to having to salute to him whenever he did say our names. But we relaxed instantly, when we remembered he wasn't so bad when he wasn't playing the "teacher roll". _

_ "This Ceremony," he began and swallowed, turning his dark eyes to us. "It's… not as joyous as you may think. Immortality…" he shook his head, now lowering his eyes to the snow. "It's not something… that you should fool around with. I know in your youth, you are able bodied. And you are quick. And you never have to worry about becoming old. But… after you lose someone dear to you because they are too old and you are still too young, then… you won't think it is the same anymore."_

_ We both stared at him. Now feeling the gloom hanging over our heads. Thinking about having to watch someone close to us die and unable to do anything to prevent it would be the worst kind of hell. However, at the time, I didn't worry as much. All I have is Kane. All I need is Kane. And he'll be with me. That's what I thought._

_ But a little part of me, deep, deep down, knew that was false. _

* * *

><p>"Ark!" Kane yelled, going through the house. He cupped his hands around his mouth, searching her bedroom, then every other single other bedroom in the house, but no sign of Ark anywhere. Which worried him. <em>Was it really that bad?<em> He wondered, looking over at Blackjack. He knew that Blackjack was popular with the ladies. But apparently not with Ark.

Blackjack was guilty, Kane saw it. And he wasn't so mad anymore. He wasn't comfortable with anyone kissing his sister, however, he could practically feel his guilt whenever he walked by. So he left it alone.

Delilah was downstairs, with Rachel and Alex. They were bustling through the house, looking into every single room. And there were a lot to check in. But they found absolutely no sign of Ark being nearby. Delilah sighed when they came back to the living room. "I can't believe she just vanished!"

"She was kinda mad." Rachel pointed out, still giving her friend an odd look. Along with Alex. When did they become so… friendly? _Forget that! When did Delilah like girls?!_ Rachel turned her gaze to the window, leading to the tree outside. She bit her lip. "That was her first kiss, then."

"Yeah," Delilah whispered, trying hard not to sound as disappointed as she felt. Alex was in the next room, about to head into the basement to yell out Ark's name. She stood beside her friend and looked out the window along with her. "Aren't they teacher and student?"

"Yeah, but I have a feeling Blackjack underwent immortality all the same." Rachel said. "So he must still look like he's… young, even though he isn't."

"Do you think Kane and Ark are as young as they claim to be?" Delilah smirked.

Rachel turned to her, eyebrows creased into a frown. But quickly smiled, then laughing. "Hell no. I think they're both elderly people." She and Delilah shared a quick laugh, thinking of Kane and Ark as two badass old people with swords. The image didn't settle well in their minds. But it kept the despair away.

Rachel sighed, when the laughter died down. She bit her bottom lip. She peaked at her blonde friend. "Hey, Delilah…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you gay?"

Delilah seemed shocked by the question. She turned to her friend, expecting maybe a sneer or a smirk, or something. But no, she looked as serious as she hadn't hoped. Delilah hesitated on the question. Was she? She had feelings for Ark, no doubt. Who also happened to be a girl. And she didn't mind it when Alex made out with her in the locker rooms. Maybe she was?

She tried to picture herself with a male. It didn't feel very… right. But she wasn't sure. She still felt a tiny bit of sexual attraction towards men, but she couldn't say that she was "gay" yet. How do you even come to terms with that? How do you even figure it out? It may sound like an easy thing. Either you like men, or you don't. But… the truth of the matter is, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. She was in a mix of emotion.

"It's okay if you are." Rachel said, watching her friend's face distort into confusion and then anger and then confusion again. "As long as you don't have a crush on me."

That immediately pulled Delilah from her troubling thoughts. She grinned at Rachel. "In your dreams."

"Not likely." She joked, nudging her friend. Then she went back to serious again. "But… if you decide you are, I'm okay with that."

Delilah opened her mouth to say something, when she spotted two people standing on the street, across from the house. And one happened to be Ark. The other one was some girl with white hair. At first, Delilah suspected maybe an old lady. But no fucking old lady could be carrying a goddamn sniper rifle.

She growled, narrowing her eyes. Another one in the way? She clutched her fists tightly and spun on her heals, marching toward the front hall of the big house. Rachel jogging after her. "Delilah?" Rachel called.

She didn't say anything as she pulled the door open and stepped out onto the porch. She looked over at the two. The mystery girl was leaning on the motorcycle that was parked near them. She held onto the large gun in one hand, like it was nothing. She reached out and touched Ark's face, causing Ark to smile.

Delilah's blood boiled. She stomped off the porch, marching toward them. Ark looked over at her and her face got instantly red. _What were you two doing?!_ She mentally growled.

Damn it!

* * *

><p>It's hard not showing that I'm still very embarrassed about the kiss. I don't want any of them to come around right now. Then they'll just bring up a bad memory. Blackjack is my teacher. Sure, I could him as a close friend. But damn, not <em>that<em> close! What got into him anyway? He never acts that way.

Nite saw my eyes trail over to Delilah and turned to see who was coming. And she turned back to me, lifting an eyebrow at me. "Friend of yours?"

"Y-yeah." I said, still staring at the ground.

Delilah stopped in between us. She looked from either of us, looking like she was completely and utterly furious with us. Even though we weren't doing anything. Nite caught onto her temper and crossed her arms. "And you are?"

"Delilah." She snapped. "Now who the hell are you?"

"My, my." She said, calmly, swinging a leg over her bike. "Seems your friend here has quite the temper, yes?"

"Oh, yeah." I nodded. But when she glared at me, I stopped and looked away.

She turned her attention back to Nite. "You never answered my question."

"Nite." She leaned against the handlebars of the bike. "Nice to meet you."

"Got a last name?"

"Do you?"

"Well, duh."

She rolled her deep blue eyes. "You didn't tell me yours, I won't tell you mine."

"Fortune." Delilah snapped, still looking very annoyed. Which was odd. Why was she so annoyed anyway? "Delilah Fortune is my name."

She smirked. "Nite Gothard."

Instantly, the angered and annoyed expression on Delilah's face vanished and was replaced with confusion and surprise. She turned her eyes to me.

"G-Gothard?"

"That's right." Nite nodded and looked at me. "We're related."

Before a question could escape, Rachel came running up to the three of us, along with Kane, Nova, Alex, and Blackjack. Blackjack stopped right in the middle of the road, causing a few honks of horns. But his eyes were glued onto Nite, who was still sitting calmly on her bike. She stood up instantly and grasped Kane's arms and tugged him toward her.

He went stiff. But accepted the hug. He looked over her shoulder at me, questioning eyes shone brightly. I just shrugged. Nite released Kane and looked up at him. She took his face gently. And a smile crept upon her face. "You still have those feminine eyes."

His face got red and I chuckled a little. He shook off the embarrassment of having his eyes called feminine once again and said in a much more serious tone. "Who are you?"

"Nite Gothard."

Nova's eyes widened behind his glasses. He cleared his throat, trying to relax himself once again and pushed his glasses up. "Nite… it's been a while."

She looked over Kane and caught sight of the doc. She grinned. "Nova." She walked over to him and pulled him into a hug as well. But Nova was incredibly tall, so she had her face pressed into his chest, he just patted her back awkwardly. When she pulled away, she said. "Still a doctor, I see."

"It's the only thing I'm good at, dear."

She rolled her eyes and looked into the road, at the still frozen Blackjack, who was now causing drivers to get out of their cars to yell at him to move. But he still ignored them. Nite smiled. "Blackjack. How very nice it is to see you again."

"Nite." He growled and began walking toward us. I could see the clear anger on his face. The cars continued on. He stopped on the sidewalk. "What are you doing here?"

Having Nite over caused much more tension between Blackjack and everyone else. Nova had went to go drop off Delilah, Alex, and Rachel. Leaving Blackjack, Kane and I alone to speak.

Which was totally weird.

Blackjack had just kissed me. Which was totally weird and gross. And then Nite had caused him to look like a little kid who didn't get his way. Or an angry teacher, take your pick. Anyway, we all sat in the living room. Blackjack was sitting in between Kane and I. I avoided looking at Blackjack, to avoid further embarrassment.

Nite sat across the room, in a chair. She had one leg placed over the other, her arms were crossed. There was still her large sniper leaning on the chair beside her. She looked calm, cool, collected. Which wasn't the same thing I could say about me.

I would give anything to be with Nova right now.

"So." Nite finally said, causing me to jump a little. "Nice place you got here."

"It's Nova's." Kane said, looking just as awkward as I was.

"That doc sure has been a doc for all his immortal life, eh?" She chuckled and shook her head, she looked amused. "What a waste of immortality."

"Nite." Blackjack barked, cutting into the conversation. "You never answered my question."

She waved her hand at him and rolled her eyes at him. "Jeez, Blackjack. You're such a buzzkill."

"Answer me."

"Okay, okay." She sighed and leaned her elbows on her knees, resting her chin into her palm to look at us closer. "I got a call. It was from my good friend. He said he met Kane and Ark. Gothard. So I came rushing over."

"From?"

"England."

He raised his brows. "One day? On a bike?"

She nodded and smirked, when she detected that he was impressed. "I've made longer trips." She stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "Now, I'd like to speak with them. Alone."

"Not going to happen." Blackjack stood up suddenly. "I'm not leaving you alone with them."

She rolled her eyes at him, now looking actually offended. "I'm not gonna do anything, Blackjack. I wouldn't lay a finger on these two."

"I don't believe that for a second." He stepped closer, until they were eye-to-eye with each other. They were both glaring at each other angrilly. "You act like what you did never happened."

She gave him another powerful glare. She looked scary when she was mad. "You'd better watch your fucking mouth."

"I'm not frightened by you, Nite." He said calmly.

"I have the right to talk to them. Their my family."

"No they aren't. You lost that right when you…" he paused and looked like he was biting his tongue. He sighed and said in a much calmer voice. "Think of them, Nite. Think of what they'll think if… they find out."

Her anger faded away in an instant. She swallowed and looked unsure of what to do or say next. She looked down at her hands like she saw something hideous on them. She looked back at Blackjack. "B-Blackjack…" she started, her voice was now weak and shaky. It was so sudden change of mood that I couldn't take my eyes off of them. "I can't… I can't just leave. I've spent years in exile from them. I-I'll leave as soon as I say what I _need_ to say."

Blackjack stayed silent for a long period of time. They just stared at each other. Then he sighed and nodded. "Very well. You get five minutes." He looked back at us. "I'll leave you alone." He walked toward the exit, toward the kitchen, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Kane and I looked at the door where our teacher had just disappeared behind. Then we both hesitantly turned our eyes back to Nite. Who was now sitting down on the coffee table, clutching the edges tightly in her fists. She took in a deep breath and then lifted her head to look at us.

"I apologize." She began, taking in another breath and swallowing down hard. She looked troubled, maybe even… nervous? I'm not sure. I don't even know who she is. "I'm trying to gather my thoughts." She paused for another brief moment before saying. "I know you both know my name. And that I'm a Gothard, just like you."

"Yeah, we got that part." Kane said. "But who are you with _us_?"

She bit her lip like she was restraining herself from saying something she shouldn't be. Then she got a cheery look in her eyes. "I'm your sister."

We didn't say anything. I knew my mouth was open, I could feel the air coming in. Kane was stiff on the other end of the couch. He just stared at her, although his eyes read complete and utter shock.

Nite sighed, seeing as we couldn't say anything let alone do anything. She ran her hands up and down her arms as if she were cold. "I'm your older sister, of course. I'm twenty two now. But I underwent the Ceremony and I'm stuck in this eighteen-year-old body."

"Y-you went through the Ceremony?" Kane finally managed to talk, unlike me.

She nodded, running a hand through her white hair. "I used to be an Assassin of Hades." She paused for a moment. I saw a flicker of something in her eyes, but couldn't determine what it was. She closed them for a moment and licked her lips. "You two ran away because… he made you do something you didn't want to, is that it?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

This time, I caught the flicker in her eyes. And saw it as pain. She was hiding something. "It's kind of a Writ of Passage." She told us. "It goes like this… if you become important enough to obtain immortality, then you also need to… go through the Writ of Passage."

"And that is?" Kane asked.

She grasped her hands to keep them from shaking. But it was obvious what she was doing, so I didn't see the point in it. Still, for her sake, I said nothing about it. "He wants all of his soldiers to not be innocent anymore. In the worst way possible. To kill an innocent life."

I didn't want to ask it. I wanted to shut myself up, slap myself, punch myself. But it was too late. The question was already out and I wanted to snatch it from the air as soon as it left my mouth. I asked: "Who did you kill?"

She looked up at me with blue eyes. Much like Kane's. She bit her lip and I saw spotted a tear forming in her eye. She buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders trembled. I could tell she was crying hard now. I looked over at Kane. He looked back at me. We were both clueless and… well, sorry. I wished I hadn't asked the question. But I was even more regretful when I found out the answer to that question.

"Our mother." She whispered in a shaky voice.

Our eyes widened. We nearly fell out of our seats. But instead, we both jumped to our feet, staring down at her. Now _I_ could feel my own eyes watering. _No, I can't cry_. "Y-you killed…"

"Yes." She whispered again. "He told me that she was going to send you two to where I was. She said that you two were going to be next. He told me that in order to save you two, I would need to kill her." She sobbed, her voice was breaking and choking as more tears spilled into her lap. "After I did, I knew what I did was wrong. I could feel it in my heart. When I went back, I saw… he was readying himself to go into this world. To find two more souls." She snapped her head up, to look up at us. Kane and I were both crying as well now. She sobbed even more when she saw us crying. "I know what I did was wrong! I left as soon as I found out. But I wasn't allowed to come back into the Void. So I was exiled."

We couldn't speak. Only wipe away the tears falling from our faces. My whole body trembled. I heard Kane sniffling and choking on his tears. I wasn't any better. Nite stood up. She gave us begging looks. "I couldn't come into the Void without getting into trouble. I tried to get you two back so many times. Before your innocence was taken away, like mine. I wanted to apologize so many times. I'll do anything for you two to forgive me."

Still, we said nothing as we listened to her speaking.

She fell to her knees, lowering her head to us. "I spent so long trying to find anyway to get you back. I gave up after a while." She choked out. "But I still couldn't stop thinking about it. The sleepless nights, the crying fits. They were all for you two. I never thought I'd see you two again."

We looked down at her, eyes filled with tears. It was hard to see her because my vision was blurry.

"I'm so sorry! Please, forgive me!" She cried out.

Kane and I both fell to our knees. At the same time. We both collapsed to the floor and wrapped our arms around Nite. She stiffened at first, her sobs turned into a short gasp. And then she relaxed and wrapped her arms around us, continuing to sob. We both held her, even though we were crying just as hard.

Kane put an arm around me and I wrapped one arm around him as well. I had my other arm around Nite, keeping her from falling to the floor. She leaned into Kane, but held onto my hand. "I love you both."

* * *

><p>Blackjack watched the whole thing happen.<p>

He stood there in the crack of the door, watching carefully. When they finally embraced, he smiled. _Yes, I knew this would happen. I'm sorry, Nite, for being so harsh on you for all these years. I'm sorry Kane and Ark, for hiding it from you two. But you three couldn't meet just yet_. He felt the warm feeling of hope rising in his chest as he watched the three begin to smile and laugh at each other for crying like such babies. _You three. You can do this. You can free everyone. I can see it_.

He felt the vibration of his cellular device going off in his jean pocket. He slipped his hand inside and pulled it out, flipping it open and bringing it to his ear, without checking the number. "Yes?" He said into the phone, quietly, so they wouldn't hear.

"They've done it." Nova's voice came in on the other end.

It wasn't a question, but Blackjack said. "Yes, they have made their bond." He smiled into the phone. "It seems that Nite had enough guts to say it after all."

"Damn." Nova chuckled into the phone. "Looks like I owe you twenty bucks."

"You certainly do."

Nova was silent for a few seconds. The sound of wind rushing through the phone filled Blackjack's ear for a brief moment. "One question. Why were you so harsh on her when she asked to speak with them alone. You knew how it would end up."

"Indeed," he pulled the door open just a little to peak into the room once again. They were all sitting on the couch now, flipping through the channels. Er, more like teaching Nite how to use a remote. "However, if I told her that everything would work out, she'd tell them with ease. And it wouldn't be believeable. They may have even gotten offended at her nonchalant way of saying it."

"I suppose." He sighed.

"Hang on." Blackjack released the door and turned his back to it. "How did you know I did that?"

Nova chuckled. "C'mon, Blackjack. You underestimate me. I'm smarter than you think." Then he added. "Plus, I know you. I know how you work."

"Very well." He looked at the time on the wall. "It's almost midnight." He said into the phone.

"Hm, I suppose it is." Nova said calmly. "Would you mind putting the children to bed for me?"

"They're eighteen."

"Children still." Nova said in a much more serious tone than Blackjack was expected. "Immortality has not yet taken hold of them yet. They are all still so young."

Blackjack frowned into the phone and swallowed. "Yes." He said and tightened his grip. "I'll put them to bed. And what of Nite?"

"Do what you like, Blackjack. You know the girl better than I do."

"As you wish." He brought the phone down, away from his ear and clicked the red button, closing it shut and then placing it back into his pocket. He placed his teacher look back on his face, along with his confident and angry walk he always used and pushed through the kitchen doors.

"You three. Did you settle things?" Blackjack demanded. But they didn't answer. He was a little annoyed at them. He walked around the couch, inhaling his breath to say it a little louder, but released the breath when he saw that they had fallen asleep. Ark and Kane both leaned their heads on Nite's shoulders. Nite's head was tipped back against the couch, hand barely holding onto the remote on her lap. He smiled.

The blanket on the back of the chair would do. He grasped it and spread it out as far as his arms would go and he placed it over the three of them. He walked over to the TV that was playing some rerun of some show he'd never seen before. Nor did he care. He clicked the power button and looked at the gun and Nite's boots. "What a mess." He grumbled, but did nothing about it.

He ran a hand through his slick black hair as he walked over to the light switch on the wall. He flicked it off, watching as the light faded from the room, leaving the three siblings sitting in the dark, breathing slowly and calmly, snuggling next to each other for warmth. Blackjack smiled once again, before closing the doors that led into the hallway, separating the living space from the staircase area.

He sighed, when he found himself with nothing to do. "I suppose I shall do my nightly rounds." He said as he grasped his cloak and heading toward the doorway at the end of the hallway.

* * *

><p>When I woke up, I felt this awful kink in my neck. But I was too sleepy and far too comfortable to care. Despite having a bad pain in my neck. I was laying on the floor, that much I knew. But why the hell am I lying on the floor? I extended my hand and felt my hand curl around something. I opened my eyes slowly and found that my hand was grasping someones ankle. I followed the ankle up to Kane's sleeping face.<p>

He was in an awkward position. He had his head on the arm rest of the couch, all of his body was in a laying position, except for his right leg. Which was in a more sitting position, it seems. And I was grasping his ankle. I used my other hand to push myself up. I released Kane's leg and scratched my eyes.

My eyes traveled down to the other end of the couch. Where I spotted a girl with white hair and quite pale skin was lying. Then I remembered: Nite.

I smiled. She had her cheek laying her palm, she was drooling. Her jacket was wrapped tightly around her.

I placed my hand on the coffee table and pushed myself to my feet. I stretched my arms over my head. I saw the sunlight seeping in through the window. Then my eyes widened. I spun around quickly and looked at the clock on the stand. And I yelled. "_AH! KANE GET UP! WE'RE LATE!_"

* * *

><p>Kane and I burst through the doors of our third hour class period.<p>

Everyone looked back at us. The teacher stopped talking and looked over at us, not looking pleased with us. "Ah." She said, placing a book down on her desk, she pushed the glasses up. "Kane, Ark. You're late."

"S-sorry!" I said, through pants. "We got caught up." I told her as we made our way to our seats.

"That isn't a good excuse." Everyone chuckled, but we just plopped in our seats. I looked over at Kane, who was sitting next to me. And we both smirked.

* * *

><p>Delilah watched from the back of the class as the teacher walked around the class and talk. And talk, and talk, and talk. But she wasn't paying attention. As usual. She had her mind on other things. Home problems, figuring out where she could go tonight, so she wouldn't have to worry about hearing them arguing.<p>

She sighed out loud, then turned to the window, staring down outside. Once again, she felt this yearning to go outside. She rolled her eyes and plopped into the desk. Why was school so damn boring all the time?

When the lecture finally ended, resulting in homework, she got up and went to leave the classroom. Not even minding Rachel's pleads to wait up. Delilah yawned and jammed her hands in her pockets, staring down at the floor.

Then she felt someone tap her shoulder. She looked back to see who it was, expecting Alex. But froze in place when she spotted the guy, the one with the silver eye, from before. He wore a smug expression that immediately made her want to punch him. "Yeah?" She lifted a brow at him, clearly annoyed.

"If you'd like to know more about the Gothard's, then you'll visit me in the cafeteria at the end of the day. I have an interesting piece of information that I think you'll be interested in." He said, then turned his back on her, before waving at her over her shoulder and continuing on.

_Yeah, like I'll listen to anything_ you _have to say_. She thought bitterly, hoping he got the message through her glare, even if he wasn't looking. Still, she wondered what kind of information he was talking about. What could he know about Kane and Ark? Or more specifically, the Gothard's?

She stopped at her locker and was busy putting her things into her locker, when she felt someone was looking at her. She turned her head around. And glared up at Ark. She immediately looked away. "S-sorry!" She held up her hands to keep Delilah from attacking or something.

"Whatever." She turned back to her locker. "Hey, by the way. There's something I wanted to ask you."

"And what is that?"

She hesitated a moment, before turning her eyes back to Ark. "Could you train me?"

"Train you?" She tilted her head slightly.

"Yeah." She closed her locker and turned to Ark, crossing her arms and leaning against the locker door. "It'll be easier on everyone that way. That way I don't have to run all the time."

"But I don't want you to fight." Ark said calmly.

"Why not?" She demanded, sounding a little bit more annoyed than she intended.

She hesitated after hearing her annoyance. "I don't want you to be hurt. I can't forgive myself if you get even a scratch."

"I'm not a little kid." She snapped, to hide the fact that she was feeling quite embarrassed and almost blushed.

Ark's eyes suddenly dipped lower. "I am aware you aren't a little kid." She said, eyes still glued on her lower part of her body. Delilah's face was burning. "But that still doesn't mean I don't want to protect you."

_P-protect me?_ Delilah thought, avoiding her eyes._ It's just a crush… it's just a crush_… "I-I'll be fine. And besides… maybe I also want to protect you."

Ark's eyes were brought back up. Their eyes locked for a long time. Delilah fought the urge to run away. _Why am I also getting the urge to_–

"Ah, there you guys are!" Kane jogged up to them, tearing their gazes away from each other. "Ark, is it possible that we could do our homework here, after school?"

She shrugged. "Sure, whatever you want to do. But you have to call Nova and let him know."

Kane nodded.

Rachel soon caught up as well. She placed her things in her locker quickly, before turning back to us. "By the way, who was that girl from yesterday? Your relative?"

Ark smiled a little. "Our sister."

"You have a sister?" Delilah raised her brows. _Thank goodness, they're sisters_. "I didn't know that."

"Neither did I." Ark shrugged. "Anyway, we really should get moving."

The four of them walked to their next class, talking and laughing with ease. It was nice to be around your friends.

* * *

><p>Nova stepped into the kitchen.<p>

Blackjack was sitting at the table, reading out of a book. He looked calm and at ease. His chin rested in his palm as his elbow propped itself on the table. He kept one hand on the page he was reading, ready to flip it. Nova smirked as he sat down next to his friend. "You're such a bookworm."

Blackjack looked up from his book. His dark eyes were timming with amusement, even though his face didn't show it. "I _am_ a teacher." He closed the book, after saving his page. "Don't you have to go to work?"

"So eager to get the house to yourself." He chuckled and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. "I have work later on tonight."

"I see." Blackjack nodded slowly. His eyes were distant, telling Nova he wasn't even listening to him.

Nova raised his eyebrows. He leaned forward on the table. "Is everything all right with you, Blackjack? You seem a little… distraunt." He tilted his head at his friend.

Blackjack hesitated. Nova could practically see the gears turning in his head. It was odd. But he reached his hand out and wrapped his hand around his head, so his hand was buried in his thick, black hair. Blackjack looked at him, so his cheek rested against his wrist. Nova stroked his hair softly. "Tell me." He said softly.

He looked surprised by Nova's intimate touch. But quickly shrugged the odd feeling off and said. "It's just… I was reading something yesterday. And there was a part in the book that bothered me."

"And that was?"

"It said; _the darkness in you won't be brought out, unless lured out_." Blackjack paused and looked down at the book with a troubled look. "I don't know why. But it… it really gave me the chills."

Nova took his hand away and looked down at the book himself. He bit his lip, unsure of what to say exactly. "I doubt you'll become evil, Blackjack."

"It's not _me_ I'm worried about." He looked back up at Nova. Nova saw the look in his eyes and straightened in his seat. "There's something… about the Gothard's."

"What?"

"They have a tradition." He closed his eyes shut for a moment. "That's why Nite was also part of the Void. They send their… they send their children to the Void when they turn a certain age. And become apart of Hades Hall."

"Yes, I am well aware of it." Nova said.

"No," Blackjack broke in, in a much more serious tone than Nova was expecting. "There's another part of the tradition. A much more sinister one."

Nova swallowed. "And what is it?"

His eyes trailed off in a distant look again. Nova got nervous suddenly. "I don't know." He answered honestly. "I tried to find out, by going to the archives in the Void. Looking through every piece of evidence possible. But… nothing would tell me. All it said is that the Gothard's undergo three vigorous tasks. The first: become a successful Knight of Hades. The second: lose your innocence. And the third: Defy."

"Defy?" Nova tilted his head. "Would it refer to their defiance against Hades?"

"Possibly." Blackjack sighed, he sounded defeated and frustrated. Nova suspected he spent a lot of time wondering about this and researching it. "But how is that a step further for the Gothard's? They are loyal servants to Hades. They wouldn't assign that to them unless it works for Hades. It just doesn't make sense."

"Perhaps…" Nova paused, considering his words. "There is more to this Defy stage than we know?"

Blackjack persed his lips into a thin line, before rubbing the bridge of his nose between his pointer finger and thumb. "Maybe."

"Look, whatever this stage is, I'm sure they have already overcome it and left it behind." Nova tried to reassure his friend, even though he didn't believe his own words himself. "As long as they're here, they won't be harmed. And they won't be caught."

Blackjack nodded.

But still, they both had that one burning question. Despite their efforts in forgetting it: _What is the Defy stage?_

* * *

><p>"I'm off to practice!" Rachel waved off Delilah, who stood at her locker. She waved back, without saying anything. Rachel jogged around the corner, leaving Delilah alone.<p>

But only for a moment. Ark and Kane walked past. But Ark stopped and looked over her shoulder. "This Friday. Come to my house. And… I'll show you a few tricks."

Delilah grinned and nodded. "Thanks." Was all she said. Ark nodded and continued. She sighed when she was alone and plopped down on the floor, knees pressed against her chest. The day had been exhausted. She couldn't get over this undeniable feeling to just run. To do something. Gym class had helped with that, but after it ended, she felt like she needed even more and ended up begging the clock to hurry.

_Seriously, I should go to the doctor's and see if I'm ADHD_. She rolled her eyes when she thought of her parents expressions if they found out she was ADHD. _They would hate that_.

The clock spun around for about ten minutes. She wondered why she was still here. She looked at stairs. She could leave right now, but for some reason, she felt like she needed to meet that Bryan guy. There was something in his words that made Delilah curious.

She sighed and rose from her spot on the floor, dusting off her jeans. She walked to the cafeteria, where he said he'd meet her.

When she pushed through the doors, she spotted him. He was sitting all the way across the room, legs propped up on the table. He still had that smug look on his face. Delilah walked over to him, constantly wanting to knock that look on his face. _Why am I here? Isn't he the dude who attacked us yesterday?_ Delilah thought.

"I knew you'd come." Bryan stood up from his seat, bowing to Delilah, as if he were trying to be polite. "I'm sure you'd like to know _all_ about the Gothard's."

"Cut to the chase, computer boy, I'm not in the mood to play games with you." She snapped as she walked closer, without faltering. She plopped down across the table from him, moving the chair in closer. "What is it that you want to tell me then?"

He smirked again and took his seat as well. He calmly reached over and grasped a book, bringing it over so it sat in between them. He opened it up to a marked page and turned it so she could read it for herself. "This is a… I suppose a history book of sorts that I managed to collect. It was written by William Gothard. Head of the Gothard Clan and the first one to admit both of his sons to Hades."

Delilah took the book from Bryan and read it for herself. This was the summary she was able to understand at least: Some dude named William Gothard, born from royalty and from the King and Queen of some fancy castle sends their son away. They are not pleased with his… um, scrawny son. So they send him away. And he ends up living in some hick town in the mountains. Totally bent on revenge and anger for his parents abandoning him. He ends up marrying a slave woman. When he's gifted with two twin boys, he makes a bidding with Hades. He knows he's too old to anything, blah, blah, blah. And soon ends up asking Hades to train his sons to become Knights and then kill his parents.

She closed the book and looked up at Bryan. "So? I don't really care about some dude who was a total brat. Seriously, get over it." She rolled her eyes, not impressed with him at all. "And besides, what parent sends their kids to a death god because of what _they_ want?"

"William Gothard was not a… generous soul, indeed." Bryan said, through his smirk. "But it doesn't end there." He picked up one other book, a much smaller book. He placed it in front of Delilah and laced his fingers together on the surface of the table, watching as Delilah opened the book and began reading.

The book was a list of names. The whole thing was a thing of names. Next to the names were their age, sex, and then their _eye color_? Delilah tilted her head slightly. She looked up at Bryan. "Why would they focus on eye color?" She asked him, as if he might know. "And who are these people?"

"Those, my dear, are the names of every single Gothard that has been sold to Hades." He told her, calmly, looking very amused at her expression of shock. "It seems that every single child born in the Gothard name has been sold over to the death god. Twins are especially special for Hades. Perhaps he's searching for the reincarnations of William Gothard's sons, Rodney and Aaron Gothard."

"Reincarnation?" She wasn't particularly religious. In fact, she hardly thought about that kind of thought. She intentionally avoided deep conversations with herself or anyone else.

"Yes." Bryan nodded. "However," he sighed, losing his smugness. "The eye color has me stumped."

"It's odd." She rubbed her temple. "You'd think they would focus on something more important. Eye _color_ hardly seems relevant."

"Indeed." He hummed. "However, the archives were jam packed with other books. I was only able to get my friend to bring me two copies on the Gothard's. So there could be another book on this matter. Perhaps explaining why the eye color is so important."

Delilah looked up Bryan. Could it be possible that she was actually working with this guy? The same guy that tried to kill her and Ark and everyone else just yesterday? The same guy that Ark can't stand. The same dude that _she_ couldn't stand. _Damn, I am_. "If you manage to get your hands on anything else, let me know, would ya?"

His eyes read clear amusement at her words. He nodded. "As you wish."

* * *

><p>Eve walked into Hades Hall.<p>

She walked quickly down the hallway, ignoring everyone else that came to bid her good day. When she came to the end of the hall, she fell to her knees and looked up at her majesty. Well, the single ball of darkness that resembled her majesty. Since he was away in the Underworld, he was unable to be at the Void at the moment. "What are your orders, my lord?" She asked, lowering her head.

"Eve." He purred, in his smooth and sweet voice that made everyone cringe and shiver when they heard it. "It's almost time. Just a few more months. And then I want you to go down. And I want you to retrieve Ark."

"And what of Kane, my lord?"

"He is of no use to me." He said in a harsh tone that made Eve flinch, but she obviously didn't show it. "His eyes… they are blue, are they not?"

"I suppose you're right, my lord." She lifted her head to look at the smoky image of her majesty. The single ball of darkness fluttering on the red and black throne. "Once I bring Ark here…" her voice trailed.

The death god caught on and laughed with amusement. Another chill slithered down her spine. "You may have her. Ark will be yours. But not until I fullfill my own deeds with her. Am I clear?"

Eve sighed with relief and nodded. "Yes, sire. I will bring Ark here without fail."

"Make sure that you don't allow her to die. Make everything easy for her, Eve. For all of them. Bring them closer together. And when they are close enough, I will send you. And you will rip them apart. Make Ark feel the greatest sacrafice."

Eve nodded. "It shall be done."

"Good. Good." He hummed and chuckled. "I suppose you'd like your reward now?"

Her eyes lit up. The black hole of darkness began to ripple and then a figure stepped out of the inky blackness and morphed. The black figure walked over to her and towered over her. She looked up lovingly at the figure. The darkness began to roll off its shoulders and slip off its body and then formed a face in the dark. "Ark." She smiled, reaching her hand out.

The figure chuckled. "Patient girl." The clone of Ark said, with a smirk. "Thank you for waiting so patiently for me. And you shall be rewarded greatly." She fell to her knees in front of Eve, forcively taking her face and bringing her close. Eve moaned when their lips met. She closed her eyes and they fell back, despite everyone in the room watching and even the death god.

**0.0**

**Okay, I'll admit. It was a LITTLE embarrassing writing that last bit. But yeah, that's how I wanted it to end. Being all "mysterious" and whatnot. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. Exams are a bitch.**

** So, yeah, there it is. Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading. :]**

** I'll be back soon with more content, bub-bye.**

** -ComicalFace**


	9. Surrounded

Hades' Knights:

Chapter 9:

Surrounded

_When I had turned sixteen, is when it had happened. My first hint that I was different from Kane. _

_ Blackjack was busy with a lesson. He was rambling on about something that involved Assassin's being too annoying and interfering with Knight's work. Causing the rest of the class to chuckle every now and again. And right in the middle of class, there was a knock at the door. Blackjack stopped his rant and looked at the door. He frowned slightly and headed toward the door. _

_ When the door opened, I spotted the man. He was completely bald, no eyebrows at all. His eyes were pale, it looked like he had no pupils at all. He had tattoos all over his head and his neck and his broad shoulders. He wore a very odd get-up. Leather everything. His arms were left untouched, so he could show off his muscles. He was so pale, it must have been born in this place. If he was even human._

_ Anyway, I saw that Blackjack's back stiffened up and his hands clutched at his sides. He nodded slowly and turned around. As soon as he did, his eyes locked with mine. I frowned and gave him a questioning look. He motioned for me to come over. I rose from my seat and walked quickly over. I bowed to the man, realizing his special position in the school. _

_ Then I looked at Blackjack. He sighed, looking slightly uncomfortable and a bit awkward. He held up a hand to the mysterious man and bent down in front of me. "Ark, I'm going to need you to go with him to Hades' Hall."_

_ "Why?" I asked. _

_ "I can't answer any questions right now, okay? Just trust me."_

_ "A-all right." I looked back at the man, who only grasped my shoulder and began leading me away from the school. _

_ When I was in Hades' Hall, Hades was sitting at the other end, in his black and gold throne. His servants were all standing around him, but they all had their eyes on me. I swallowed, nervously. _

_ When we were at the end of the hall, the man with the tattoos backed away, bowing to his lord and then disappearing into the floor. A black pool of thick substance, it almost looked like tar, materialized around his feet, sucking him in and then ultimately making him vanish._

_ I went to my knees, like I was told to do when meeting our death god. I bowed my head like I was also told and said. "Sire, what is your wish?"_

_ "Ark." His voice caused a harsh chill to whisper into my ear and an uncomfortable feeling of dread to wash over me. "You've grown since the last I've seen you."_

_ "Yes, sire."_

_ "No need to be formal here, Ark." The death god said. I could hear him walking toward me, making me increasingly tense. "I merely wish to talk."_

_ I forced myself to look up and meet Hades' eyes. His dark eyes pierced my own. I began to shake uncontrollably. When I was a child, he didn't give me this kind of vibe. He wore a mask of kindness when he was handling us as children. However, now that I'm older, I now realize that the death god isn't as nice as he made himself to appear to be. "You are… fourteen?" _

_ "S-sixteen." I managed to say. My voice was quivering. _

_ He looked pleased that I was scared of him. "Ark, I have something that I want to give you." He leaned down to his knee. He was right in front of me now. His eyes leveled with my own. He reached his hand out and touched my forehead. I felt a cold chill spread through my head and into my body. "You see, I want to always be able to protect you. So when you are threatened by something, I will give you this gift. And it'll ensure that you come back into the Void, with me once more."_

_ In a way, I was glad. I was glad that I had the reassurance to know I could always come back home when I was in trouble. But in the same way, I wasn't. Did I really want to be here? It's true, even then, I was praying that I could somehow be forgiven by the gods and come back into the world once again. _

_ But part of me knew better. _

_ "What about Kane, sire?" I asked, frowning slightly. _

_ He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I cannot bare my gift to him. Only you, Ark. I'm afraid Kane's different from you. Despite you being twins." _

_ I wasn't quite sure I understood, but didn't question him. I just rose from the floor, nodded to him and turned my back to him to leave. When he said. "There's a time that you will use that, Ark. Don't forget."_

_I won't_.

* * *

><p>Today was Friday. Nova drove the four of us back to his house so I could give Delilah some lessons, while Kane and Rachel did something together, I'm not sure.<p>

When we arrived, I got out and waited for Delilah. She got out as well and together, we went inside. When we were inside, we walked in silence down the narrow hallway that led to the back of the house, where the practice room was. I tossed my backpack to the side and turned to her. "All right." I placed my hands on my hips. "Let's start on the first lesson."

Delilah arched a brow, looking unimpressed with my way of teaching so far. So I continued. "Well, first, let me see your fighting stance."

"My what?"

"You know." I demonstrated by raising my fists and spreading my legs and then jumping around like a boxer. Which only made Delilah smirk. I stopped and frowned. "That thing."

"I didn't know we were in Tekken." She grinned when I gave her an oblivious look. "Show me."

I rubbed the back of my neck and held up one hand. This was the way Blackjack taught me. The way he taught me when fist fighting. Or hand-to-hand combat. Although, I'm still pissed at him. "Like this." I kept one hand behind me to protect me from the back as well. I kept my feet spread out, in a strong stance so it would be hard to knock me down.

Delilah mimicked what I was doing. And I started to do my teaching. _No, I don't like the way she's standing… her arm isn't high enough… her back needs to be straighter_. I narrowed my eyes. And then walked toward her. I came up behind her and pressed my hand to her lower back, making her jump a little. "Your back needs to straighten."

She swallowed and nodded, straightening, moving from my hand. I nodded back, satisfied. Then I came around to her front and raised her elbow a bit. "Keep it like this. So you have a good outlook on your adversary." And then I reached around and grasped her other wrist, holding it behind her back. "And keep your other arm right here." I pressed her hand to her side, or more like her ass. I pressed her hand down, spreading her palm open. "That way you can quickly reach something that's coming from behind if need be."

"O-okay, I get it!" She pushed me off of her. "What's next?"

I smirked and backed up. "Come at me."

"Huh?"

"I want you to attack me. I want to see what you do wrong and what you do right."

"But I don't wanna hurt you."

I just chuckled, making her look even more pissed off. "I don't… think that can happen."

"Okay," she growled through clenched teeth. "Since you're so cocky… I'll give it my all."

* * *

><p>I pinned Delilah to the ground for about the hundreth time that night. We were both sweating and panting. I tightened my grip on her wrists and grinned. "Give up yet?"<p>

She chuckled, her hot breath spreading across my face. She swallowed down and shook her head. "Not yet, macho."

I hoisted a brow. "Hmm… I think if you go anymore, you'll _really_ end up hurting yourself."

"Ha! Like I'm scared of you."

I leaned forward and brushed my cheek against hers, to her ear. I got_ real_ close and whispered in her ear. "You should be."

She shivered beneath me, but said nothing in return. When I pulled back, I was closer now. I got a good look at her eyes. I always knew her eyes were blue. But her eyes were… more like sapphires. And I couldn't deny that her eyes were truly beautiful. And then I took in her whole face. Yes, she was very attractive when she wasn't constantly berating me. Her skin was very tan, her hair was so wavy and shiny. Her neck was slender and her shoulders were lean. "You're beautiful." I found myself whispering.

Her cheeks got red instantly and she looked away. "D-don't be weird."

"Am I weird?" I smirked at the look on her face. _Damn, she really is cute_. "But I think you're beautiful. Is that weird?"

"Yes, it is." She looked back up at me, but only got redder. She struggled against my hands, but I had her pinned. She wasn't getting loose. "Haven't you ever heard of personal space?"

"Mm… I have. Unfortunately, when someone is blushing so intensely under me, I feel the need to…" I moved even close to her "… get closer."

Delilah's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something, but the door opened and we both jumped away from each other. Until we were just sitting next to each other on the matt. Nova walked inside, running a quick hand through his wavy black hair. "Evening, ladies." He nodded.

I swallowed down my dry throat. _What the hell got into me? I probably totally freaked her out now_. "Hey, Nova." I cleared my throat when I squeaked. I rose from the floor. "What's up?"

He rolled his eyes and jingled his keys in his hand. "Called me in late. Guess something went down and I need to be there." He sighed, placing a hand on his hip. "So how's the training going with the cutie?" He raised his brow at Delilah and smirked, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'm not cute." She growled back at Nova. "Stupid Pervy Doc."

I looked back and forth between the two. "Anyway," I brought my arms up and rested them behind my head, relaxed. "It's going fine. Have fun up in the hospital, Nova. Try not to get yourself hurt."

"Pfft." He rolled his eyes again. "You two have fun." He waved back at us as he went toward the exit. "Try not to burn the house down."

"No promises." I called back, but grinned. I turned back to Delilah and held out my hand. "I think that's enough for tonight." I hauled her to her feet. "If you want, I can drive you back home."

"No." She shook her head. "I'd rather stay here over the weekend."

I nodded. "All right." I walked over to our backpacks. I lifted them up. "Let's go, then. I'll show you to your room." We walked up the steps in silence until we got to her room. I motioned toward the room. "This is the guest bedroom. I'm sure Kane will show Rachel this room too." I looked at the time. "It's almost midnight. Are you tired?"

Delilah shook her head. "No, not really. Are you?"

"Nope." We tossed our bags inside the room and headed back down the steps, into the living room. We looked at all the movie options and settled on some comedy. After that, we chose a horror movie. Although, we weren't scared. We just like the company while we talked.

Finally, the subject landed on something rather… awkward. "So, that Alex girl." I began, leaning back into the seat. "Seems really close to you. Do you like her?"

Delilah shrugged. "We're friends, I guess."

"Seems like you were more than friends to me." I said and immediately regretted saying it.

She winced and looked up at me. "I suppose… kind of."

"She kissed you." It wasn't a question, but she nodded. "Did you like it?"

She shrugged, not meeting my eyes, but watching the screen. But she didn't seem interested in the movie. "Yeah, I did." She finally said. For some reason, I felt a little disappointed in hearing her answer. I kind of wanted her to say…

"But," she said. "I wouldn't say I like it for the right reasons."

I nodded slowly, though I had no idea what to say. I've only kissed once in my life and it was with my teacher and it was very weird. I'm still pissed at him. "I see."

"I was thinking of someone else when I kissed her." Delilah told me. "I was visualizing I was kissing them."

"Who were you visualizing?"

Her face got red. "None of your business."

I held up my hands. "All right, all right."

"So what about you?" She asked. "Seems like you and your teacher are really close too."

I shook my head, cringing. "No. Not _that_ close." It was a bad memory now. "I don't know what the hell got into him. He's never done that before. We're close because he's like a father to me. He's always been there for me, protected me and Kane. I never had a Dad. Even before I was shipped away to the Void with Hades. So when he took care of Kane and I, we became close."

"What about your Mum?" She asked. "What was she like?"

I smiled, recalling her. "She was beautiful. And kind. And smart. She was the perfect maiden. She taught Kane and I to always be true to ourselves and always be kind to others, even when they aren't kind to us." Then I frowned and looked at the floor. "But I'm not good at that. I'm so easily annoyed and when I am, I'm not nice. And I'm not good with manners. I think she'd be disappointed."

"No."

I looked up at her. "What?"

"That's not true. I don't know who she was, but I definitely know she's wouldn't be disappointed in you." Her look was firm and serious. I was actually really surprised.

I smiled a little. "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Delilah woke up to the sound of the door opening.<p>

She blinked in the dark and turned her eyes to the door. She was expecting Rachel, but frowned slightly when she saw that it was Ark. Ark stepped inside the dark room, closing the door quietly. "Ark?" She rubbed her eyes free from the sleep. "What's up?"

Ark said nothing as she made her way toward the bed and sat herself down. She looked at Delilah through the dark. "You're beautiful." She whispered and came closer. Delilah found herself moving toward her, without control. She swallowed.

Ark brought her chin up. "Can I?" Delilah swallowed again and nodded. Ark moved in closer. Their lips were so close. Delilah whimpered when she didn't come any closer. Ark curled her fingers around her head and brought her closer. When their lips met, Delilah felt her stiff body loosen.

Ark placed both hands on either side of Delilah and pushed into her. Their mouths open, tongues wrapping around each other. Delilah's heart thudded hard against her chest. They fell back against the bed. Ark pushed back her blonde hair and kissed her again. Delilah's arms wrapped around Ark's neck. "Don't stop kissing me like this." She said and flipped Ark over so she was on top.

They kissed for a while. Delilah on top, hands on either side of them, while Ark picked up her head every now and again, trying to get more of the kiss. They moaned loudly, Delilah was sure someone was going to hear. But she didn't care.

"Mm!" She broke the kiss and looked at Ark. "I need more."

Ark smirked and went to the bottom of her shirt, about to lift it up. But then she stopped and looked at her. "Delilah." She said. Delilah lifted her brow, waiting for her to say something. "Delilah." She said again.

"What?"

And that's when she woke up. The real Ark was standing over her, shaking her shoulder gently. Delilah felt her face flush with embarrassment when she realized that was only a dream and she had been sitting not too far away from Ark all along.

Still, the entrails of that dream lingered over Delilah. She stood up, with the help of Ark. Her hand was burning her arm, it felt. She couldn't help but intentionally slip and fall into Ark's already open arms. When she collapsed into Ark, she buried her face in her breasts, which were surprisingly bigger than Delilah expected. _That's good_.

Delilah seemed really out of it.

* * *

><p>I carried her upstairs, my arms were wrapped tightly around her. She leaned into me, nose pressed in between my breasts. She also had her arms around me. When we were in the bedroom, I laid her down. She laid her head back on the pillow, still looking a little groggy. She peered up at me. "Hey, Ark…"<p>

I pulled the blankets up. "Yes?"

"I like your accent." She smirked. "And you're sense of humor. And I think you're cute. And really nice."

I just smiled, not really taking her seriously. And then she grabbed my arm and sat up. She was really close. And I could see her beautiful blue eyes. I've always envied people with blue eyes. I was never fond of my own. Brown eyes weren't fascinating to me. At least, not to me.

Delilah was incredibly beautiful. I know I've already said that, but I couldn't get passed at how amazing she looked. She kept looking down. I was wondering what she was looking at, but I didn't ask. "I want to stay with you." I found myself whispering to her. "Always."

"We will." She promised, she leaned into me again. "You and me."

* * *

><p>The next day, I woke up and trudged down the steps, still half asleep. The sun hadn't risen yet. But I was used to being up this early all the time. So it didn't seem odd to me. I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth, settled my tousled hair, and then decided to hop in the shower. Once I was dressed, I went out into the hallway, where my shoes were.<p>

As soon as I stepped outside, I heard. "Awake already?" I jumped a little and turned. Nite was sitting on the porch, legs crossed and hands resting in her lap. Her jacket was tied to her waist, her boots were muddy. Her sniper rifle was resting against the house, next to her.

"Nite, what're you doing here?" I asked. "I thought you had some job to handle in Braziil."

"Aye, I did." She said, bringing her arms up behind her head and resting them there. "But my job is done, since my client decided I wasn't the best person to hire for the job." She rolled her eyes. "Woulda been nice to know he was gonna do that _before_ I made it halfway to Braziil."

"So you're back?"

She held up her arms. "Obviously. I was going to go inside and see you two, but I guess I fell asleep."

"You know, you're the only person I've ever met that falls asleep on a porch in freezing cold whether."

She shrugged. "I've slept in the arctic once." She told me, rising up from the seat and stretching. "So where are you headed?"

I shrugged. "I just need to walk sometimes."

"Something the matter?"

"No."

"Liar."

"I'm not lying." I stepped off the porch.

Nite walked down with me, bringing her large gun with her. The old leather strap was ripped and shredded in many places. It didn't look like it'd last much longer. I wonder how long she's had that. I wanted to ask if she was also immortal, but I pushed the question away, as I wasn't very sure it was something she'd want to talk about. So I left it alone. But my guess was that she was, after all, she looked pretty young for a girl who was eighteen when we were like six.

We walked down the trail that split the forest in two halves. Which was also Nova's driveway. Walking through the trees and smelling all the oak trees was nice, even though were were just outside the city. I looked over at Nite when we got to the end of the trail that led to the ridge, where we could see the city down below.

"You're an Assassin."

It wasn't a question, but she nodded with my statement. "Yeah, I am." She crossed her arms and looked at me. "Was. But… I guess I still do those jobs. But now I have a reason to quit. Since Kane and you are here."

"I have a question."

She raised her brow, waiting. I cleared my throat, knowing this question was probably going to be hitting the nail right on the head. But I knew she wasn't going to kill me or something. Right?

"Mom… she… we didn't hear she was murdered by anybody. So… what did you… you know, do?"

Her eyes flickered back to the city, a now more serious expression befell her face. She played with the button on her jacket, which I quickly picked up was a habit of hers. "Well…" she began. "They probably didn't tell you because… you were just children. Telling two children that their mother was murdered wasn't something that they'd be willing to tell you guys."

I nodded. Makes sense.

"And as for what I did… I didn't want her to suffer. So it was quick. And painless." She looked down at the ground, kicking the dirt at her feet, then looking back at me. "Let's go down to the city and have a look around. Hm? Sounds nice, right?" She grasped my hand and we headed down the path, toward the city.

* * *

><p>Nova walked into his office, with a heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his wavy black hair, pushing his glasses up his nose. Then he headed toward his desk, which was against the farthest wall. But his eyes were too focused on his files to notice that someone had already taken his seat.<p>

Then he looked up at him and froze, letting himself smirk. "Well, well. Didn't know you were so eager to see me." Nova set his file down on the desk. "Blackjack, can't you be patient and just stay home?"

Blackjack propped up his black boots up on desk, he had his black gloved hands in his lap. He reached up and removed his black hood. "I'm not used to being cooped up in one place." He simply said and smiled a little. "So I came here to see what you were up to."

"Working, of course."

Blackjack rose from the seat and walked over to the window. He pulled the blinds open. "It's so dark in here. Haven't you heard of light?"

"I have, actually. But I should be asking you that. I am the less pale one here, right?"

Blackjack looked back at him, with a slight frown, but it was a playful one, so Nova wasn't worried. He turned to him. "Do you need any help?"

"None that you can help me with." Nova replied, frankly.

Blackjack frowned. "I'm not an idiot, Nova. I'm sure there's _something_ I can do."

Deciding it'd be a little fun to make fun of Blackjack, just like in the old days, he tapped his chin with his longer finger. "Well, if you could do that brain transplant surgery I have scheduled for this afternoon, that'd be wonderful."

Just like back then, Blackjack's eyes widened with surprise and he looked down, now seeming embarrassed.

_He's always so cute when he's blushing_. Nova thought, smirking. He walked up to Blackjack and set his hand down on his shoulder. "I'm kidding." When Blackjack didn't budge, Nova grasped his shoulders, making him look up. "Look, I appreciate it, really. But there's just not much you can do here, ya know? Nothing personal. Although… if you really want to help me, you could help relieve some stress."

Now his face was completely red and he glared at Nova. "I'm not gonna do anything like that!" He pushed him away.

_I was just talking about a massage_. Nova thought, kind of puzzled. And then he decided to have a bit more fun. "Aw, why not? It would surely relieve me from my stress if you did."

"Absolutely not!"

"_Blackjaaaacckk_!" Nova whined.

"Nova, stop it." He growled.

"All right, all right." He raised his hands. "Anyway, I really do have to go. I'll be back soon to come and pick you up and we'll head out, all right?"

"Y-yeah."

Nova headed out into the hall, before he left, he looked back and smiled. "Have a good day, Blackjack."

* * *

><p>Kane pulled up the car to the restaurant. Delilah and Rachel were in the back, still groggy from sleep. When they stopped, they looked out. They seemed surprised, but didn't say anything. They made their way up the pathway and into the shop.<p>

When they placed their order and taken their seats, Delilah quickly got distracted by some noisy kid who wouldn't shut up. She shot up and stomped over to the exit, saying she'll be right back.

Leaving Kane and Rachel alone.

Let's make something clear. Kane liked Rachel. A lot. More than a friend would. Which is a big, big issue. Because he's a smooth, easy going guy. He's never nervous. He doesn't worry about things very much. Unless it involved Ark. But now he's always nervous around her. Which isn't something he's used to.

Not to mention crushes was also something he's never experienced. In the Void, nobody caught his eye. And even if there was, he was always focused on Ark. Since the two were struggling to stay alive and not get into anymore kinds of trouble. Which they were both really good at doing.

"Delilah's always impatient." Rachel sighed, but chuckled when she spotted Delilah glaring into the window at the loud kid. "It really doesn't surprise me that she's… into Ark."

"Huh?" Kane frowned, looking away from Delilah to meet Rachel's eyes. "Into Ark? What does that mean?"

"You know? She wants to be with her."

"Isn't she already?"

"No, no. Not like literally be with her. But like…" she sighed and scratched her chin, thinking. "She wants to be with Ark, as in holding her hand and kissing her. As in she wants to talk with her all night, but she can never get enough time to be with her. To constantly think about her when she's alone and feel like they are in heaven when she's with her."

_That's how I feel_. Kane realized. He swallowed. "Tell me more about this feeling."

"Well, what do you wanna know?"

"What's the boundary?"

"Boundary?"

"Well, is this feeling lethal? Can it cause harm to someone? Possibly… death?" Kane asked, feeling like he should be grabbing the table and flipping it over.

"No." She looked surprised. "Love is supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy."

_Love?_ Kane thought. Yes, he understood what love was. However, actually feeling it… well, that was another thing. He understood the love between siblings, obviously. Or even between a mother and a son. The love of two people that feel like what Rachel explained was something he _didn't_ understand quite well. "I-I see." He said, even though he still felt like he was in the dark.

"Wait, Kane, have you ever even heard of something like this before?" Rachel asked, she looked across the table at him like he was a kicked puppy. "Where the hell are you from?"

Kane chuckled at that. He looked up at her with a dead serious look though. "Some place you never want to know."

Just before Rachel could ask anything, Delilah came trudging back over, looking as pissed off as when she left. She plopped into the booth and looked across it at Kane, who visibly paled and looked down at his reflection the shiny surface of the table. "Is everything okay, Delilah?"

"Just peachy." She snapped. But she didn't direct her anger toward Kane. But toward the annoying kid in the restaurant, who still wouldn't shut up. "Nobody else is annoyed?!"

Rachel laughed a little, giving her friend a pat on the arm. "Only you, dear. Only you."

"Ugh." She slammed her chin into the table and shifted her eyes ever so slightly to the window. "Where's Ark?"

"Probably still asleep, knowing her." Kane chuckled.

"Does she sleep often then?" Rachel asked Kane, lacing her fingers together on the table.

He shrugged. "Sorta. We grew up in a rather strict environment, so we couldn't exactly sleep in much. But when we could, she took advantage of it." He also remembered the times when she had those odd dreams and many people made fun of her for it while she slept soundly. "Anyway, let's enjoy ourselves for today, yes?"

"Sounds good." Rachel agreed with a little hum.

* * *

><p>"Oh, yes I remember that." Nite growled as she climbed up the side of the building with me following closely behind. "It was a trecherous test, indeed." When she got to the top, she pulled herself up and rolled her eyes. "Not a lot of people really won. I heard a lot of them failed, actually." She sighed as she looked out at the sky. "Only a few of us kids got to be immortal."<p>

I lugged myself up with a satisfied grunt and let my legs dangle on the side of the building as we looked over the city. "Yeah. Although, I kinda wished we failed. It'd be easier, wouldn't it?"

"Dunno." She said, honestly, not taking her eyes off of the scenery. "It seems rather… insignificant now. Don't you think?"

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"Let's focus on something a little less… worrisome. After all, we can't change it, can we?" She hopped down onto the ceiling. "All we can do is keep going." She walked to the center of the building and looked up at the sky. Her hair was rustled in the wind.

"So why are we up here again?" I asked following her to the center of the building.

She looked back at me. A smirk dancing on her lips. "Just because you're in a house with a cute girl, you forget your training?"

My face felt hot and red. I knew she was talking about Annabel. I looked down at the ground. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she's very cute. So you should definitely take her and–"

"I meant the training, Nite!" I cut in before it could get any further than that. "What do you mean about the training?"

She paused and grinned evily once more before nodding. "Right." She looked out at the city we were in and got a little more serious. "This city is inhabited by various beings. And I have a hunch they don't wanna make peace with you."

"How do you know?"

"I'm Nite. I always know." She looked over at me, but she looked serious all the same. "You've dragged those two girls in with you two. So you be careful, you hear?"

I nodded. I wasn't kidding. And I wasn't acting like a stupid kid either. It was my intention to always keep those two protected. It was our fault for bringing them into this mess. Despite their abilities to know what to do before Kane and I even do. Which was very odd.

"Good." She shifted her eyes back to the city grounds below. "Now let's–"

Her words were cut off by a horrific growl behind us. We spun around. I grabbed Tundra around my neck when I spotted the pair of eyes staring back at me and heard the snarling reach my ears.

I could hear Nite's gun behind me, readying itself to fire.

"Dammit. How'd it get here?" I asked, without turning to look at Nite. Tundra flung into my hand from the air as usual, without turning to look, I reached out my hand and grasped the handle, bringing it to my side. "We're way up here."

"Ark, think here." Nite said, lifting the scope to her eye and taking aim at the beast. "It's not unusual for a Hound to come up here. After all, they would need to search every corner of the city for us." This time, she did look at me and I did too. "Right?"

She was right of course. And I knew that. And yet, I'm still pretty pissed off at it for some reason. I swallowed down hard and brought Tundra up, ready to fight it if need be. "Hey, Nite." I said, still not looking at her. "Let's have a race."

"Huh?"

"Whoever kills it first wins." I smirked back at her, catching her eye and her mischievous glint. "And whoever loses will have to obide by the winner."

"Oh?" She chuckled. "I already have a master plan ready." She took aim at the creature once more and pulled the trigger.

* * *

><p>Kane flinched as Delilah and Rachel talked through bites. He shifted his gaze out the window at the city. Rachel was the first to notice his absence in the conversation. She looked at him and frowned slightly when she found him staring out the window with that kind of look.<p>

"Hey, what's up?" She asked Kane.

He shook his head slightly, not looking at her. "I-I'm not sure." He admitted and fiddled his thumbs gently against the table. "I just feel…"

"Sick?" Delilah offered, not really taking it seriously. She even grinned after offering it.

He shook his head, not picking up on her joke. "No, it feels like… a storm's coming." Although, the sky was cloudless and it was a nice day. That rarely happened. And yet, there was this overwhelming feeling that something, somewhere was wrong.

Rachel bit her lip a little. "Maybe you should call Ark."

Kane looked away from the window. "That's a good idea." He said as he reached in his pocket.

* * *

><p>Nite and I ran down the street at full speed away from the Hound that was following close behind. The Hound was growling and snapping its jaws at us as we made our way down the road, cars were skidding to a stop when they saw two kids running away from something they couldn't even see.<p>

Nite pointed at a taxi. "Ark!" She cried. Before I could stop her, she was pulling the guy out of the parked yellow car. She hopped in and motioned for me to get in too.

"Are you crazy?!" I demanded, running around to the rolled down window of the passenger side. "Jesus Christ!"

"Just get in, would ya?!"

I groaned, but didn't see much choice as the beast got even closer. I pulled the door open, just barely inside before it was pulling out. And zipping down the road, dodging cars as it passed. I held on tightly to the dashboard. "I get really bad car sickness." I admitted.

"Well, today ain't your lucky day." Nite simply said, jerking the wheel to the right and causing the car to screech and then she slammed the pedal again, rushing into the alleyway that led through the buildings.

Just then, as the headlights lit our way down the darkened path, I felt a vibration in my pocket. I looked down at my swelled space, where something obviously was. I reached inside and pulled out my phone. Ah, I was getting a call. I flipped it open and looked at the caller ID. I clicked the green button. "Kane?"

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" He asked me like this was a normal circumstance.

I glanced at the rear view mirror where I could see the dark red eyes of the Hellhound coming after us. "Oh, you know… just car jacked someone and running away from a dog. A really big freaking dog."

"A Hound?" He suddenly sounded alarmed.

"How'd you guess?"

"Now's not a good time to be joking, Ark!" He growled. I could hear the worry in his voice. "Where are you right now? What's going on?"

I gripped my seat with a tight fist. _I'm so gonna throw up_. "Uh, well, I'm not really sure. Somewhere in between some buildings."

"What?"

"It's a little difficult to tell, okay?!" I snapped back at him, feeling the nauseous feeling and also the rush of the Hound coming wasn't helping the situation at all. "Look, just go back to the house. Nite and I'll meet you there."

"No way!"

"Now's not the time to be arguing with me right now, Kane." I sighed, checking the mirror again before turning back to the narrow road of the alleyway again. "I'd really appreciate it if you'd just listen to me."

"But–"

"Bye, Kane!" I clicked the red button before he could try to argue with me again. I slipped the phone back into my jean pocket and inhaled deeply. "Please tell me we're almost out of this damned vehicle."

Nite chuckled, her eyes were narrowed on the pathway. She took another sharp turn and we were suddenly back out on the road, rushing past other cars on the highway and trying equally as hard to keep our distance from the invisible beast. Which made us look like we had gotten ourselves into trouble.

"Okay." Nite looked at me in the passenger seat. She reached down into her backpack she always carried with her and unzipped it quickly, trying to drive and lean down wasn't helping at all with my need to throw up. She pulled out a small circular object from the pack and held it up. "This is what's gonna happen. We're gonna–"

"Hold up!" I cried, pointing at the object. "Is that a damn grenade?!"

She nodded with a grin. "Hell yeah."

"Why do you have a grenade in your backpack?!"

"Ex-soldier from Hades." She winked at me and stuck out her tongue. "You've got a lot to learn, Ark."

She has my mother's cockiness. That's for sure. And Kane's brains. I wonder what we have that's similar.

"Anyway," she turned back to the road and curved around a car as she sped past. "I'm gonna blow this thing up." She told me.

"Say what now?"

"I'm gonna blow this car up. If I'm correct about this, I know a Hound can't stop without a good struggle, so if we get out just in time and allow it to get close enough, we can blow it up as well."

"Good plan. Except we have to jump out, don't we?"

She laughed. "Is there any better way?"

I sighed as I eyed the ground that was surely going to hurt me in a moment. I grabbed Tundra from the floor of the taxi and held it close. "If I die here…"

"Don't worry. I'm a pro at this." She winked at me again.

"Yeah, but I don't exactly jump outta cars every day."

"Neither do I. But I sure as hell know what needs to be done." She took her hands off the wheel, balancing with her knee. "Okay, I'm gonna toss this in the back, I want you to keep the wheel steady as I slow down. Once I toss it and count to five, jump out and the blow should just barely touch us."

"Just barely?"

"Hey, I didn't say it wouldn't hurt."

_Kane, why couldn't_ you _have come to do this instead of me?_ I internally punched myself. I knew Nite was nothing but trouble. I looked at the creature in the rear view mirror and squeezed the handle of Tundra in my palm. I felt it instantly shrink back into the necklace that I had obtained. I slipped it back on my neck and looked over at my older sister, nodding my head slightly. "Okay. Let's do this."

She nodded back to me.

I grasped the wheel and looked to the road, keeping it level between the cars was difficult from my position, but it was possible. Nite let up on the gas and I felt the car begin to slow. I looked up into the mirror and spotted the beast coming up through the cars and even knocking some out of the way. It snarled when it met my eyes.

Nite was also watching the monster and counting very quietly to herself. "Get ready." She warned and grabbed the ring around the grenade. She looped her finger through and held her breath. She pulled it off and tossed it in the back. "Five, four, three, two, _now_!"

I released the wheel and slammed my shoulder into the door as I pulled on the lever. The door came loose and I jumped out, not even minding that a car was driving past me. I just needed _out_ of there.

There was a ground shaking bang and I heard a horrific howl. I hit the ground very heavily, scraping my arms, my face and my knee. I groaned and looked up just in time to see a large semi honking for me to get out of the way, even though he was slamming on the brakes.

"Shit!" I shrieked as I scrambled to get to my feet. I dived out of the way onto the other intersection just in time to see it pass by me. I turned to see what had become of the taxi and gasped when I saw the read-eyed demon howling into the air as its hairless body was ignited with flames.

The car was in shambles as well. The flames licked at the sky and it stopped the other cars, I could hear the scream of sirens in the distance. Police were coming. Time to split.

"Nite!" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth.

She stood up in the road, carrying her gun with her. She cracked her back and turned to look at me. She waved, then froze. She quickly lifted her gun and took aim. I frowned. _Is she aiming at me?_

My heart hammered in my chest. "N-Nite, what are you doing?" I tried to yell over the sounds of cars screeching, and sirens. But I wasn't sure she heard me.

A deafening bang could be heard in my ears as the gun fired and zipped right past my head. I could hear the metal bullet slashing the air, whistling as it went. I jerked my head around when I heard the bullet hit something behind me.

Another Hound. It was growling and bringing its head back around, a red hole in its ear. Our eyes locked as its shadow stretched over me. It rose its head higher and opened it mouth, saliva dripping on the ground under me.

"Son of a bitch!" I reached up quickly and took the necklace in my hand. I ripped it off my neck and felt Tundra in my hand instead of the piece of jewelry. As it brought its head down, I took a swing.

The sword ripped at the surface of its skin, but it was just enough to make it stagger and allow me enough time to run to Nite.

"Are you okay?!" She grabbed my face and looked me closely up and down. Her eyes were glistening with worry.

"I'm fine." I promised.

She tugged me into a hug, allowing the gun to go limp in her hand. I hugged her back awkwardly. I sighed into her shoulder. Then I saw it in the corner of my eye. I lifted my head just in time to see another one lurking in the shadows.

It jumped so quickly, I barely had enough time to react. It dived for Nite and I, claws stretched out, ready to attack.

I spun Nite around with the arm that was around her and extended my sword arm to the Hound. I heard it yelp, but it didn't help that I spotted yet another one and another one. They had us surrounded.

The hound I thought I'd killed simply rose up, bleeding from its neck, where the sword had caught it. I backed up into Nite's back, feeling her back press into mine.

She lifted the gun and I lifted my sword.

People around us yelled and pointed at us. We probably looked insane right now. Two teenagers just car jacked some poor taxi guy and then blew up his taxi and now we're standing in the middle of the road acting like totally freaks. Yeah, if we're caught, there's no way we can lie ourselves out of this one.

I heard her gun behind me. "Say, Nite."

"Yeah?"

"What's that master plan you were talking about before?"

She chuckled. "Why do you wanna know in such a time like this?"

I shrugged, not taking my eyes off of the red-eyed enemy of mine. Despite all other foes that were around us, looking just as pissed that we were here and not in the Void right now. "Just curious. In case I die, I don't wanna be a wandering spirit."

"What a simple mind. You'd stay tied to earth simply because of that?" She peaked over her shoulder at me. "Survive this and I'll tell you what it is."

"No fair." I grumbled, but I grinned. "I'll only do it if you live too."

"Deal."

We both reached back, not even risking our eyes wandering. Our fists touched in a knuckle bump. Nite chuckled back at me. "Good luck, Ark."

"Winners don't need luck."

We both shot forward. I swung Tundra widely at my foes, hearing the Hounds advancing on us all at once. The sounds of gunfire could be heard behind me and more yelping. I dodged attacks, nearly getting hit myself. My sword was gathering more and more blood as the time went on.

I grinned when I saw that I was still standing, despite how tired I was and how many enemies there still were. "Oi, Nite! How ya doin' over there?"

I didn't feel so confident when I heard Nite scream and gun fired, along with a yelp. "Nite!" I screamed over the sounds of growling. A group of Hellhounds surrounded me, snapping their jaws and growling. _Dammit, am I gonna die here?_

**SOO SORRY!**

**I know, I'm VERY late with this update. Very late. But jeez, school is seriously a pain and this is the only time I've had off this whole time. **

**Seriously, why do tests even exist anyways?! **

**Anyway, so there it is. My update. I took a long time to get to it. I hope nobody tries to kill me. 0.0**

**Sorry, I'll try my hardest to get more and I'll see you next time. **

**-ComicalFace**


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